Mark Cuban's dance card is looking a bit less full these days, as the billionaire has decided to take a step back, but not out, of the Dallas Mavericks' spotlight. Cuban is selling much of his stake in the team to the Adelson and Dumont families, though he’s set to remain at the helm of basketball operations, FOX 4 News reports.
True to his reputation as a serial entrepreneur, Cuban is always ready to stir the pot and, most recently, to possibly stir into the lucrative gaming industry. The Mavs deal, still pending league approval, isn't slowing down Cuban's roll—or making him fade into the basketball backwoods. "For Patrick [Dumont] and the Adelsons, they are not basketball people, and they aren't trying to be basketball people. That's what makes this such a good partnership," Cuban said, per FOX 4 News.
Cuban, after recently stepping down from his stint on 'Shark Tank', is now linked with whispers of entering the gambling scene. Always with an eye on the prize—and in this case, it seems to be another kind of green—Cuban hinted at a vision that could see his beloved basketball team's brand expanding into realms beyond the court. He informed a Dallas news affiliate last week about diversifying team revenue streams, with a pinch of casino tourism possibly in the mix, according to the Financial Times.
Yet, the house in Texas doesn't always win. Legalized gambling remains off the books in Texas, and convincing lawmakers to roll the dice on this one is shaping up to be a high-stakes game. Texas lieutenant-governor Dan Patrick has already flagged the lack of support in the state's Senate for gaming, a sentiment likely reflecting larger conservative and religious opposition within the state. Still, with a budget surplus not crying out for gambling revenues, Cuban and the Adelsons may just have to play a long game if they hope to turn Texas into the next big thing in tourist dollars.
Cuban's foray into gambling, should it come to pass, will be the latest addition to a career with more pivots than a championship basketball game. After cashing out on the dotcom boom with the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo and then snapping up the Mavericks, Cuban doesn't tend to sit still for long. His decision to sell a majority stake while retaining control over basketball operations might just be another shrewd move in a history of timing the market just right, as treated by the industry analyst Chad Beynon who observed the cunning instinct both Cuban and the Adelson family demonstrated in previous ventures.
