Cuban has sold the Mavs to Adelson-Dumont Family

[F Gump]

Wonder how Cuban was able to finagle ongoing control of basketball ops? Looks like a pretty good deal for the buyer given some recent sales The Athletic reported.

How he did it, that's a good question. That's rare. Usually someone willing to pony up and buy more than half wants the control that comes with being the majority owner. Someone buying a majority of the shares, but receiving no control (aka being a Limited Partner), their share in many ways is way lesser value.

As for whether a portion of the team was sold at a discount, I doubt it. They paid more than $2B and got more than half. From the numbers being strewn, it could be a reasonable guess that maybe they bought 2/3 of the shares for $2.4B, to match the supposed valuation of $3.6B being reported. 

I see 3 ways that the $3.6B reported Total Valuation might be misreported.

1 In some circumstances, all shares are not alike, and it appears that's happened here. The 1/3 of the shares that has control in some ways is worth MORE, because CONTROL is worth a big percentage all by itself, so the total valuation is actually going to be higher than is being reported (assuming the reported Total Valuation was derived by simply extrapolating what 100% would cost at that same rate). Control (or lack of same) is actually an IRS point in determining valuation of a shares in an entity.

2 There's one other explanation, which is that the Mavs may have had massive debt attached, which could skew the numbers and the Total Valuation.

3 This may be a 2-part transaction, as happens sometimes, where eventually Ms Adelson will own the whole thing. The terms of the later transaction, currently out of public view, perhaps set to occur when X or Y takes place later, could change the total math tremendously. Whereas for now, all that is known is $X for ___%.

In a more general analysis... I don't think it's helpful for the Mavs to be Cuban's plaything on an ongoing basis, and now with even more insulation from consequences. He hasn't been that good at it in the past, and I would hope there are benchmarks he has to meet to keep his job. If not, this could be awful.

[MrGoat]

On the other hand...

Is it possible Cuban is doing this because he knows the team is about to have to pay tons of luxury tax in the coming years and doesn't want to be stuck with the bill? In other words, is this his way of finally letting the Mavs be a tax team?

What it could be is the Adelmans want to pay that luxury tax to get tax breaks and don't really care about running the team. Sports team ownership is one of the best tax scams out there during the first 15 years you own the team because you can amortize all of the contracts over a 15 year period on your taxes. Cuban has owned the team for over 15 years so that could explain why he's gotten cheaper in recent years. He saw an opportunity to cash out while still retaining the ability to control team decisions

[Mavs2021]

Miriam Adelson sold $2B worth of casino shares. If we assume the Mavs are maybe worth a maximum of $4B, then we are talking roughly 50%.

Now the good news: The Las Vegas Aces and Las Vegas Knights are two of the best run franchises in the WNBA and NHL.

Knights since their inception been to NHL finals, first round, conference finals, conference finals, 9th, won Stanley Cup.
Aces since their relocation to Vegas have been missed play-offs, conference finals, finals, conf. finals, won title, won title.

So they have an excellent track record of winning. They are also based out of Vegas and have an 100% track record of starting or relocationing their franchises to Las Vegas (Raiders, Aces, Knights).

To sum up, if they get 51% control...

- they know their sh*t  and they won´t accept Marc´s mediocrity BS for long

- say goodbye to the DALLAS Mavericks and start a support group with Super Sonics fans

Maybe the  gambling in Texas angle saves the Mavs, but otherwise this franchise is not staying in Dallas imho.

Wouldn´t surprise me if Cuban is in some financial "trouble", especially if the selling price is cheap. Been cheap with the Mavs budget in forever, the crypto nosedive, Mavs are his last asset. If you make as many bad decisions as he has with Dallas, why should his business decisions be that much better. Probably canned him from Tank before ot comes out.

[ItsGoTime]

If the Mavs move to LV, can we entice the Thunder to come here? I could root for them pretty happily.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

DFW is one of the biggest markets in the country. Anyone that thinks they’re moving the team from Dallas to Las Vegas needs to get their head examined.

Besides, the NBA basically confirmed Las Vegas will get an expansion franchise with Lebron as part of the ownership group.

This is all about trying to bring gambling to Texas and make more money. Adelsons are big time political donors.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Miriam Adelson sold $2B worth of casino shares. If we assume the Mavs are maybe worth a maximum of $4B, then we are talking roughly 50%.

Now the good news: The Las Vegas Aces and Las Vegas Knights are two of the best run franchises in the WNBA and NHL.

Knights since their inception been to NHL finals, first round, conference finals, conference finals, 9th, won Stanley Cup.
Aces since their relocation to Vegas have been missed play-offs, conference finals, finals, conf. finals, won title, won title.

So they have an excellent track record of winning. They are also based out of Vegas and have an 100% track record of starting or relocationing their franchises to Las Vegas (Raiders, Aces, Knights).

To sum up, if they get 51% control...

- they know their sh*t  and they won´t accept Marc´s mediocrity BS for long

- say goodbye to the DALLAS Mavericks and start a support group with Super Sonics fans

Maybe the  gambling in Texas angle saves the Mavs, but otherwise this franchise is not staying in Dallas imho.

Wouldn´t surprise me if Cuban is in some financial "trouble", especially if the selling price is cheap. Been cheap with the Mavs budget in forever, the crypto nosedive, Mavs are his last asset. If you make as many bad decisions as he has with Dallas, why should his business decisions be that much better. Probably canned him from Tank before ot comes out.

The Adelsons don’t own any of the sports teams in Vegas so I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at.

[ItsGoTime]

DFW is one of the biggest markets in the country.  Anyone that thinks they’re moving the team from Dallas to Las Vegas needs to get their head examined.

Besides, the NBA basically confirmed Las Vegas will get an expansion franchise with Lebron as part of the ownership group.

This is all about trying to bring gambling to Texas and make more money. Adelsons are big time political donors.

I’m sure it is, what if they don’t succeed in their goal? What if that goal doesn’t succeed for the first few years? How patient will they be? Legalizing pot in Texas has been rumored for years in Texas, so much so that smoke shops have been popping up everywhere in anticipation for years now.

Also, the thing about “if, then” statements is, the “if” is not a definitive statement.

The fact that we’re a top 5 market is why I think we could entice a team like the Thunder here. IF that were to actually happen.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Going to ignore the talk to relocating to Vegas and Dallas becoming a resort town and who the Adelsons are for a second to say this:

The Mavericks just went from having an ownership group worth about 6 billion dollars to one that's worth about 40 billion. We always talked about Cuban being cheap but sometimes we ignored that Cuban may have just been poor in terms of sports ownership. There are no more financial excuses moving forward.

[ItsGoTime]

Second highest net worth ownership group in the NBA. 3rd highest in US sports. I just hope MC has performance goals to keep his role. Maybe then he’ll set those up for the people under him instead of enabling them with excuses for their failures.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Second highest net worth ownership group in the NBA. 3rd highest in US sports. I just hope MC has performance goals to keep his role. Maybe then he’ll set those up for the people under him instead of enabling them with excuses for their failures.

Oh wow that is even higher than I thought it would be.  Who's #1?  Ballmer?

[BoredAssistant]

A "Venetian-like resort with a new arena" is what I think I just heard while driving. I'm indifferent to the gambling aspect and haven't been to Vegas in years but can someone tell me if the Venetian is considered one of the best resorts? Like IGT said, IF this were to happen, then I'm mildly interested.

[dirkfansince1998]

Going to ignore the talk to relocating to Vegas and Dallas becoming a resort town and who the Adelsons are for a second to say this:

The Mavericks just went from having an ownership group worth about 6 billion dollars to one that's worth about 40 billion.  We always talked about Cuban being cheap but sometimes we ignored that Cuban may have just been poor in terms of sports ownership.  There are no more financial excuses moving forward.

Considering that they are happy to leave Cuban in charge of the team I am not sure if this is about basketball for them. It's about profit and the priority probably isn't the on court product. This isn't Ballmer/young Cuban buying a team because they want a ring. More like the ultimate lobbying move to legalize gambling combined with a big investment that would guarantee them a de facto monopoly in one of the biggest markets in the US.

[ItsGoTime]

Oh wow that is even higher than I thought it would be.  Who's #1?  Ballmer?

Yep.
Biggest issue now with these deep pockets is the new CBA. I think we will operate over the first apron for a while going forward, but that second apron is damn restrictive (1st apron is too, but it’s fine if you have salaries in the right place).

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

A "Venetian-like resort with a new arena" is what I think I just heard while driving.  I'm indifferent to the gambling aspect and haven't been to Vegas in years but can someone tell me if the Venetian is considered one of the best resorts? Like IGT said, IF this were to happen, then I'm mildly interested.

They certainly have the money between them to make something really cool in terms of resorts/casinos if that's your jam.  I'm indifferent to that concept being introduced to Dallas, it's too big of a city for it to be it's entire identity like Vegas which would be my bigger concern.  My biggest question is where would they even build it?

Fish actually laid this all out pretty well today in my opinion and mentioned that Cuban has mentioned a 7 year timeline which aligned with the AAC lease end date of 2031:

https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/mi...s-gambling

Take it for what it's worth but a friend of mine has a brother in law who works for HKS which is the architecture firm in Dallas that built Globe Life and said they've basically already designed something out for Cuban to be built on the other side of I35 from the AAC but I can't imagine where that would be because the design district is already pretty occupied.  But money changes things....

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Considering that they are happy to leave Cuban in charge of the team I am not sure if this is about basketball for them. It's about profit and the priority probably isn't the on court product. This isn't Ballmer/young Cuban buying a team because they want a ring. More like the ultimate lobbying move to legalize gambling combined with a big investment that would guarantee them a de facto monopoly in one of the biggest markets in the US.

I agree with this but the one thing I would add is that a good basketball product and larger profits are highly correlated in this situation.  I mean the whole Vegas playbook is all about getting the biggest names for their residencies so I'm going to be hopeful that money will be spent on the team as well.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out though.

[BoredAssistant]

they've basically already designed something out for Cuban to be built on the other side of I35 from the AAC 

I'm thinking I35 right before you get to Oklahoma or maybe Frisco would be better since it's closer. There's a lot of money north of Dallas nowadays.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

I'm thinking I35 right before you get to Oklahoma or maybe Frisco would be better since it's closer. There's a lot of money north of Dallas nowadays.

As someone who was born in Plano in the 80s, it's CRAZY to drive through Frisco when I'm back in town.  I would guess both areas get something casino related built if laws change especially since the Mavs have skin in the game in both areas plus there's a lot of Jones' money up there around The Star.  I would still assume any new arena is in the city but who knows.  

The more accessible place to build something out would be around the new PGA HQ where Frisco meets Prosper.  I just stopped by there while I was in town for Thanksgiving and that whole place is just wild.

The biggest loser in all of this is probably the citizens of Oklahoma and Louisiana long term.  Those are the groups that have been holding back this legislation for so long and I think they're finally outgunned here.

[michaeltex]

Is corporate ownership allowed for NBA franchises or does it have to culminate in one individual? I see Mrs. Adelson referenced, but her investment company is as well.

Say what you will about Cuban's ownership, nobody ever denied his love for the game and passion for this team. IF he can unload the financial burdens but still bring that passion, it might not be a bad thing. Of course, one bad arguement with his new majority owners and he could be adios.

Wasn't Kidd wanting to get off the court and into an executive position at one time?

[michaeltex]

As someone who was born in Plano in the 80s, it's CRAZY to drive through Frisco when I'm back in town.  I would guess both areas get something casino related built if laws change especially since the Mavs have skin in the game in both areas plus there's a lot of Jones' money up there around The Star.  I would still assume any new arena is in the city but who knows.  

The more accessible place to build something out would be around the new PGA HQ where Frisco meets Prosper.  I just stopped by there while I was in town for Thanksgiving and that whole place is just wild.

The biggest loser in all of this is probably the citizens of Oklahoma and Louisiana long term.  Those are the groups that have been holding back this legislation for so long and I think they're finally outgunned here.

I've been away from DFW-proper for a while now. Is the Trinity River bottoms on the north side of Arlington available for development? That would give some proximity to the other main sports venues and access to the entertainment and shopping districts that have developed there. 

I'm just hoping they don't move to LV. A marquee talent like Luka could make that worthwhile.

[youzigizag]

They certainly have the money between them to make something really cool in terms of resorts/casinos if that's your jam.  I'm indifferent to that concept being introduced to Dallas, it's too big of a city for it to be it's entire identity like Vegas which would be my bigger concern.  My biggest question is where would they even build it?

Fish actually laid this all out pretty well today in my opinion and mentioned that Cuban has mentioned a 7 year timeline which aligned with the AAC lease end date of 2031:

https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/mi...s-gambling

Take it for what it's worth but a friend of mine has a brother in law who works for HKS which is the architecture firm in Dallas that built Globe Life and said they've basically already designed something out for Cuban to be built on the other side of I35 from the AAC but I can't imagine where that would be because the design district is already pretty occupied.  But money changes things....

Back in 2008ish I rubbed elbows with one of the larger if not largest excavation company owners in Dallas...like I stayed the night at his townhouse in Plano on the regular...

Word back then was that plans were to turn the Trinity River Front area into a bunch of casinos.   That was 15 years ago and things could have changed.   My main point is that casinos seem to have been in Dallas' plans for quite sometime.  Why lose all that money to Oklahoma and Lousiana?

Has anyone heard of crime increase around any of the card houses that running around here now?  I delivery food to the one that is open 24 hours at Harry Hines and 635 regularly.   Crime increase and homelessness seem to be issues Dallas has to avoid.   Seems as though the local card houses were a test run...I just dont know about the crime increase or decrease.   The house im talking about is packed regularly...so there is a huge demand.  Its crime and homelessness that are the spillover effects.