Mark Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks more than 20 years ago. With Dirk Nowitzki at the helm, the club won its only NBA championship in 2011. Now Cuban wants to sell the team
The Dallas Mavericks are facing a change of ownership. Owner Mark Cuban wants to sell a large part of his shares, as several US media reported on Tuesday (local time), citing internal sources. Marc Stein first reported on this. The new owner of the team is to be the doctor Miriam Adelson, widow of casino owner Sheldon Adelson. The total value of the franchise is to be valued at around 3.5 billion dollars for the sale.
Cuban is to retain administrative control of the basketball division and continue to make decisions as “governor”. The review process for new owners in the NBA usually takes at least several weeks. Approval must then be granted by the league’s Board of Control. The deal should be finalized by the end of the year, according to a statement from the Adelson family on Wednesday.
Apparently, the Adelson family wants to sell shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns casino resorts in the USA and Asia, to the tune of two billion dollars to finance the purchase of the NBA franchise. If all of the proceeds go toward the purchase of the Mavs, the Adelson family would acquire at least 57 percent of the team based on the $3.5 billion valuation.
Cuban once paid 285 million dollars for the Mavs
The 65-year-old Cuban bought the Mavs in 2000, when he paid 285 million dollars for his shares. Dallas was one of the worst teams in professional sport in the 1990s, but developed into one of the best under Cuban. Forbes magazine estimates the value of the Mavs, who won their only championship in 2011 with Dirk Nowitzki at the helm, at around 4.5 billion dollars.
Cuban and Nowitzki have a close friendship, which was also expressed last year when the businessman traveled to Germany especially for Nowitzki’s jersey retirement with the German national team.
