Mark Cuban, the longtime face of the Dallas Mavericks and now a holder of a minority stake in the NBA team, sold several properties near the American Airlines Center in Dallas to the team's new majority owners who also control the Las Vegas Sands, adding to that gaming and resort company's holdings in the area.
The deals, including several tracts just west of Stemmons Freeway in Dallas, closed before the end of the year for an undisclosed sum as Cuban signed over deeds to three properties, including the practice facility that sits on 14 acres for the Dallas Mavericks and a Live Nation-operated music venue. Cuban didn't immediately return an interview request from CoStar News regarding the sale of the properties.
Cuban said the sale of the Dallas Mavericks stake to the partnership between Miriam Adelson and Patrick and Sivan Dumont played to each parties' strengths with them not being "basketball people" and Cuban not being a "real estate person," according to a statement from the Mavericks about the sale. The Adelson and Dumont families are also majority owners of the Las Vegas Sands, one of the largest U.S. casino operations and known for investing in destination resorts. A Sands spokesman told CoStar News the properties were included as part of the Dallas Mavericks sale to the families.
The deals reflect the growing interest in professional sports franchises around the country as sources of economic development. The real estate transactions also make way for what could be a larger bet on Texas real estate by the Adelson and Dumont families after the NBA Board of Governors approved the majority sale of the Mavericks in a deal valued at $3.5 billion last month, according to Bloomberg.
The Las Vegas Sands has invested millions of dollars in the Lone Star State seeking to make gambling legal in Texas with some support for various sports betting and gambling bills in the last state legislative session even though those proposals were eventually shot down by lawmakers.
Shifting Ownership Stakes
Cuban retains a 27% stake in the Mavericks, ending his decadeslong term as the majority stakeholder and governor of the team. He purchased the Mavericks on Jan. 4, 2000, from Ross Perot Jr., a billionaire real estate tycoon, for $285 million. Patrick Dumont will now serve as governor of the Dallas Mavericks. Cuban will continue to be the face of the team as its managing owner.
The real estate deals closed the same day the NBA Governors approved the sale of the majority ownership stake to the Adelson and Dumont families. They bring fresh eyes — and the potential for new investment — to properties along one of the city's most high-profile transportation corridors. Terms of the deals were undisclosed, with Texas being the nation's largest non-disclosure state.
The sale of the properties to Adelson, who is the fifth wealthiest woman in the world with a net worth of $35 billion, according to Forbes, and to the Dumont family also signal development potential in the future for what could be a new arena or destination resort. At the closing of the Mavericks deal, Patrick Dumont said in a statement, “We are committed to the long-term success of the Mavericks and delivering a world-class hospitality experience for our fans, players, employees, sponsors and partners.”
An entity tied to Cuban called Radical 1530 Inspiration LP sold the Dallas Mavericks practice facility at 1530 Inspiration Drive to a Sands-affiliated entity called DSG Practice Facility, helping wipe out a $29.9 million lien on the property from JPMorgan Chase, according to Dallas County deed records. Two other properties — 1500 Inspiration Drive and 1323 N. Stemmons Freeway — were also sold by entities tied to Cuban to other affiliates with ties to the Sands organization, according to county deed records.
The North Stemmons Freeway property houses the Live Nation-anchored venue, called The Echo Lounge & Music Hall. The property, with a lounge, music hall and outdoor patio, can accommodate upward of 850 people for events.
The trade of the Dallas properties comes months after another affiliate of the Sands organization bought a 108-acre tract near the former Texas Stadium site in Irving, Texas, a suburb just outside of Dallas, as well as two other nearby parcels. In December, a Sands spokesman confirmed the real estate deals with CoStar News, saying, "Sands has long expressed a desire to develop a world class destination resort in Texas, and specifically Dallas-Fort Worth," with more real estate acquisitions anticipated by Sands in the future.