Billionaire Mark Cuban will sell a majority share of the Dallas Mavericks, the National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, to the Adelson family, according to widespread reports.
As part of the deal, Cuban will retain a minority stake and full control of all basketball operations. He will also remain governor of the Texas-based team.
The agreement will value the Mavericks at around $3.5 billion and is expected to be formalized in the coming weeks, subject to approval from the NBA board of governors.
Cuban purchased the Mavericks for $285 million in 2000.
According to an SEC filing, Miriam Adelson, an American and Israeli physician and billionaire and the largest shareholder at major casino chain Las Vegas Sands, sold $2 billion of her shares to purchase the Mavericks.
Forbes estimates Adelson and her family’s net worth to be $32.3 billion, making her the 44th-richest person and the fifth-richest woman in the world.
The Sands group has previously had discussions with Cuban about building a casino entertainment district in Dallas that would include a new arena for the Mavericks.
Those plans would require gambling to become legal in Texas, for which Cuban has lobbied state politicians.
If the deal goes through, the Mavericks will become the third NBA franchise to be sold this year.
In July, NBA legend Michael Jordan sold the Charlotte Hornets to an ownership group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for around $3 billion, while Mat Ishbia, the billionaire chairman and president of US mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage, purchased the Phoenix Suns for $4 billion at the beginning of the year.
The $4-billion price tag made that deal the largest purchase in NBA history and almost double the amount of other recent NBA transactions.
Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai acquired the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center for $2.35 billion in 2019, while Tilman Fertitta purchased the Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017.
Prior to the Suns purchase, the last majority NBA franchise sale was the $1.66 billion acquisition of the Utah Jazz by Ryan Smith in 2020.
