Is Texas Betting Faring So Bad That Mavs Owners Would Sell The Team?

We’re now almost two years into the Adelson and Dumont family experience in Dallas. The mega-billionaires agreed to buy the NBA team, the Mavericks, from Mark Cuban in December 2023, and officially closed the deal a few months later.

Buyers regret, anyone? Not just for the new owners, but maybe even the old owner? Marc Stein, a longtime NBA reporter who’s worked for ESPN and the New York Times, dropped a bombshell story in February. In it, he says Cuban might buy the team back.

Sounds crazy, right? And it does. It was a $3.5 billion deal in the first place and Cuban technically still owns 27 percent of the team — though most of that can be bought out by the current owners this year, if they so choose. But Stein isn’t your average reporter. It’s at least worth hearing him out on the possibility, which we’ll explore in this article.

What Did Stein Say?

Alright, Stein works for himself on Substack these days so admittedly the full article is paywalled. But enough people have aggregated the information that we know what the original report says.

Here is the main detail: Cuban is not necessarily leading the re-purchase process. Stein says there’s an unknown group of buyers, who want to partner with Cuban in the acquisition bid. How interested Cuban is or isn’t is never said by Stein, only that the other group is eying him for this purchase attempt.

By the way, Stein didn’t say the Mavericks are even up for sale. There’s a quote from Stein that directly says “the family remains excited about the future of the franchise and the Cooper Flagg era.”

The 19-year-old phenom Flagg has been the lone bright spot on the Mavericks this season. The team has won just 23 games this season and is third-to-last in the Western Conference. Besides lucking into Flagg in the draft lottery? It’s been a disastrous past year for the new owners.

Somehow, they jettisoned Luka Doncic — a top-5 NBA player — for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a single NBA Draft first-round pick. Davis played a total of 29 games for Dallas thanks to injuries (which every NBA fan with a pulse could’ve guessed was going to happen). Finally, Davis was traded right before the trade deadline for next to nothing, closing the book on the worst trade in league history.

Mind you, this trade happened just eight months after the Mavs appeared in the NBA Finals. This up-and-down swing has all happened under the watch of the new owners. And get this, it might not even be what’s been most frustrating for the Adelson and Dumont family. No, this other issue is likely something bigger…

Casino Efforts Have Failed Spectacularly

That’s right, the owners have actually taken a bigger ‘L off the court. We’re talking about their efforts to not only get a new arena built for the Mavericks, but to combine that with a casino, creating a hybrid entertainment-resort for the city.

Most analysts believe this casino idea was the real reason they bought the team. Sports ownership, despite what fans think, is more of an investment vehicle for prized real estate. Owners get teams, use public taxpayer money to build an arena or stadium that the team maintains ownership over. From there, it’s pure profit for owners — on arena sponsorships, non-sporting events (think concerts), and even, entertainment plazas built around the arena.

The Mavericks owners wanted all that, plus a casino. The Adelson-Dumont family made its wealth from the Las Vegas Sands casino empire so it was right up their alley. One major issue: Texas betting doesn’t exist. Casino. Sports betting. It’s all illegal.

But… the Dallas owners thought they could push their weight around, not only with their major sports team, but with its billions in riches. It’s believed they’ve invested eight figures into local politicians, mostly to lobby for betting legalization. That money has led nowhere so far.

Not only has Texas yet to allow any sports betting apps or casinos, they’ve also made no inroads on the issue. The Senate has publicly balked at legalizing betting of any kind. No betting bill even got to the Senate during last year’s legislative period. Look, we’re sure the new Mavericks owners were aware that changing hearts in ultra conservative Texas was going to be an uphill battle, but did they think it would be this hard? Probably not.

Will Cuban But Back The Mavs?

The simple answer: probably not.

We just think it’s too early for the Adelson and Durmont family to pull the plug. Yes, it’s been a disappointing two years, but you don’t give up this easily — not when the upside is this big (Texas getting its first casino would be a generational opportunity).

So we wouldn’t think too hard about Stein’s reporting. Not to say he’s lying about the idea, but we just don’t think the Mavericks owners are selling. That should kill this story in a hurry.