Billionaire investor Mark Cuban is selling a majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her family, a source familiar with the deal told CNBC.
Adelson is selling $2 billion worth of Las Vegas Sands stock, or roughly 10% of her stake, according to an announcement from the company. The proceeds will be used to buy a professional sports team, the casino company said in a filing Tuesday.
Adelson is listed as the fifth richest woman in the world by Forbes. She and her family inherited 56% of the shares of the world’s largest casino company when her spouse, Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson, died in 2021. At market close Tuesday, shares owned by the Adelson estates were valued at more than $20 billion.
Cuban is expected to remain the controlling owner of the franchise despite selling a majority share of the team.
The Mavericks were last valued by Forbes at about $4.5 billion, which made them the seventh-most valuable franchise in the league. By comparison, the Golden State Warriors topped that list at $7.7 billion.
Dallas Mavericks future plans
Cuban said last year, he hopes to move the Mavericks to a new arena that would be “in the middle of a resort and casino” in the near future, and he hoped to partner with Las Vegas Sands — which is the largest casino company in the world — to do so. Partnering with Adelson and Sands would be a big step toward getting that done, though sports betting and casinos are still illegal in the state of Texas. The Mavericks currently play at American Airlines Center near downtown Dallas, and have been there since 2001.
The Sands group, led by Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law and company president, Patrick Dumont, has previously had discussions with Cuban about building a casino entertainment district in Dallas that would include a new arena for the Mavericks. Those plans would require gambling to become legal in Texas, for which Cuban has lobbied state politicians.
Cuban first purchased the Mavericks in 2000 for about $285 million. Since then, thanks largely to the arrival of Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks have made the playoffs in all but five seasons and beat the LeBron James-led Miami Heat for their first NBA title in 2011. The Mavericks are currently 10-6 this season, the third under head coach Jason Kidd.
The Adelson family has had advanced discussions about buying a significant share of the Dallas Mavericks, sources told ESPN.
The agreement would be in the valuation range of $3.5 billion and take weeks for the league to process, The Associated Press reported, citing a person with knowledge of the talks.
“We have been advised by the Selling Stockholders that they currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, along with additional cash on hand, to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a binding purchase agreement, subject to customary league approvals,” Las Vegas Sands said in the filing.
The filing identified Miriam Adelson, a medical doctor and widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, and the Miriam Adelson Trust as sellers, but it didn’t specify a team, league or location.
If the entirety of the $2 billion goes toward the purchase, it would mean the Adelson family could be acquiring at least 57% of the NBA team — based on the $3.5 billion valuation.
The vetting process for new owners in the NBA typically takes at least several weeks, and approval must then be granted by the league’s board of governors.
Owning a sports franchise will be a significant departure from the activities that Miriam Adelson and her late husband were known for.
The couple set records for political giving, including more than $218 million to Republican and conservative causes in the 2020 election cycle alone,according to the center for Responsive politics, which tracks political spending.
Cuban still owns a stake in the team and will run basketball operations. He recently announced he was leaving the popular business TV program “Shark Tank” after a 16th season next year.