The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of Mark Cuban's controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks to Adelson and Dumont families, who own and operate the Las Vegas Sands Corp. The sale is expected to be official this week.
According to NBA reporter, Mark Stein, Sands Corp. Chief Operating Officer Patrick Dumont will now act as the Mavericks Governor with a 73% ownership stake. Cuban, who has a 27% stake as the alternate governor, is expected to retain control of basketball ops going forward, but that isn't specified explicitly in the agreement, according to Stein's reporting.
This deal puts Cuban one step closer to his goal of pairing gambling and basketball into a new arena. Cuban had been seeking to partner with the Las Vegas Sands since December of 2022. He told The Dallas Morning News that his goal is to "build a new arena, it’ll be in the middle of a resort and casino. That’s the mission.” The lease on the American Airlines Center expires in 2031.
Online sports betting in Texas hasn't been legalized yet, but there have been multiple bills presented to the state legislature this year. The Sands Corp. has been active in Texas for the past two years and launched an advertising campaign in 2021 advocating for commercial casinos in Texas, where a small number tribal casinos currently operate.
