Team ownership is not completely off the table for billionaire Mark Cuban.
Cuban was former majority owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks since 2000, purchasing stake in the team for $285 million, mentioned Fortune. At the time, he felt he was at an advantage due to his knowledge in technology and media. However, in recent years he recognized a shift towards real estate as necessary to be successful in team ownership. As a result, he chose instead to sell most of his stake to the Miriam Adelson family, controlling shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp., in December 2023 in a deal valued at $3.5 billion.
He now maintains a 27% stake in the Dallas Mavericks and is in control of its basketball operations as well as serves as the alternate governor, according to the NBA.
“When I first bought [the Mavericks] in 2000 I was the tech guy in the NBA. I was the media guy. I had every edge and every angle,” he explained on the “All-In Podcast.” “Now fast-forward 24 years later. In order to sustain growth to be able to compete with the new collective bargaining agreement, you have to have other sources of revenue. So you see other teams, in all sports for that matter, talking about casinos, talking about doing real estate development. That’s just not me. I wasn’t going to put up $2 billion to get an education on building. If we’re able to build a Venetian-type casino in Dallas with an American Airlines Center in the middle of it, the valuation is $20 billion. But I own 27% of that.”
While Cuban has taken a step back in team ownership, he would consider another run with an NBA team, assuming the league expands, but this time alongside Shaquille O’Neal.
“If my kids were like ‘All right, we’re set. That’s not what we want’ or whatever, and it was Shaq, yeah I would look at making a comeback, but out of respect to my partners I’d have to check with them first,” Cuban said on “The Big Podcast with Shaq.”
