The Dallas Mavericks sale to new owners was set to be reviewed for final approval by other teams in the National Basketball Association Wednesday, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth media partner The Dallas Morning News.
Mark Cuban, the wealthy man who’s been the ownership face of the Mavs for 23 years, stood to get even richer with the completion of the transaction with a Las Vegas casino family.
At 105.3 The Fan, sports talk host Kevin Hageland said fear of losing the Mavs has been a topic for basketball fans.
“Whether it was Vegas, initially Vegas, I think there was a little bit of concern about that. But now I think people realize if the team moves, it’s only going to be elsewhere in the Metroplex,” Hageland said.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
Cuban has said for years we wanted to move the team out of the American Airlines Center before the team’s lease there expires in 2031. He said in the past, it would stay in Dallas.
The sale of the Mavs reportedly pays Cuban $3.5 billion for the team he bought for $285 million in 2000.
He’s said he’ll remain a minority owner and continue running the team, and the sale will help fulfill his dream of a new arena with a casino.
If casinos are ever made legal in Texas, Dallas City Council Member Zarin Gracey said it should be next to the new Downtown Dallas Convention Center that voters approved in 2022.
“Adding what could be potentially a casino and a basketball arena is just an outstanding opportunity for the City of Dallas and we need to make sure we are playing it smart so we can benefit from this,” Gracey said.
But the Mavs buyers, Miriam Adelson and her family from Las Vegas, are also connected with an entity that already owns a big piece of land in Irving.
That site is adjacent to the Dallas Cowboys' former home, the former Texas Stadium site.
A DART Rail line already runs through it for transit connection to Downtown Dallas, DFW Airport, and the Las Colinas Urban Center just to the north.
A representative for the buyers said the Irving land is intended to be a resort development.
But no one has confirmed if the Irving site is the Mavs target. Cuban has not said whether Irving is close enough to count as keeping the team in Dallas.
“I do not believe this is going to be a sustainable thing where you don’t own the majority of the team, but you are still in charge of all the aspects,” Hageland said. “I think that will remain a short -erm thing, maybe two to three years. And I think eventually it may be Mark Cuban’s own choosing about where he’s at in life that he’ll want to move on. I don’t know if it’s going to be as status quo as some people think.”
Cuban has already announced that he plans to leave the Shark Tank TV show to spend more time with his family.
But for now, Cuban remains an ownership face of the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas Morning New Mavericks beat reporter Brad Townsend posted on X that the NBA Board of Governors review process was expected to begin Wednesday but may take another day to complete.
A representative with the buyers who confirmed the purchase agreement in November said Wednesday that further information will be released when it is available.
