DALLAS — As soon as word broke that Mark Cuban was selling a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to the Las Vegas-based Adelson and Dumont family, questions were immediately raised about what that shift could mean for the team's geographic future.
Namely: Under the new owners, will the team stay in Dallas?
Given the Adelson family's ties to Las Vegas and the casino industry, there was concern that the Mavs wouldn't always be "the Dallas Mavs" -- a notion that Cuban has essentially embarked on a press tour to dispel. In a recent radio interview with The Ben and Skin Show, the former majority owner of the team said that Adelsons "made it clear they want it to be in Texas, in Dallas."
But does that mean Dallas proper?
That answer remains murky.
Before the Mavs' game against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, WFAA's Joe Trahan spoke with Mavs CEO Cynt Marshall and attempted to clarify Cuban's statements. Asked specifically whether the team will stay "here in the city," Marshall responded, "[We'll be] right here -- well, in this region... I assume it's the city. I don't know. The plans aren't there yet. We have a lot to do legislative-wise, all that. But the [initial] vision is you're going to see a lot of enhancements in this very arena [the American Airlines Center] -- in fact, I'm getting ready to go and do a walkthrough with some people right now. So you'll see a lot of money put into this arena. And then we will build something that will truly be a destination spot for Dallas, and I can't wait."
Watch WFAA's interview with Marshall here (her comments on the Mavs' future arena plans start at the 1:52 mark):
Asked later for clarification on whether the organization could assure fans that any new Mavericks arena would be built within Dallas city limits, a spokesperson for the team told WFAA, "Nothing is final. Mavs will still play at AAC for a few more years."
In his Ben and Skin interview, Cuban spoke about his conversations with the Adelson family about their intentions for the franchise.
"Remember, Dallas has become the fifth-largest market in the country and is only continuing to grow," Cuban said. "That was an important part of our conversation. There's no chance that they're moving. On top of that, even if we don't get gambling approved, [the Adelsons] are still going to build a new arena."
Given how property records indicated that the Adelson's have bought 100 acres of land in Irving at the old Texas Stadium site along with about a dozen acres in Dallas' Design District around the Mavericks' current practice facility, Ben and Skin pressed Cuban on if one of those could be the site for a future Mavs arena.
Cuban replied by saying that he did not know the exact location the Adelsons were eyeing, and that his conversations with them about a new venue were "all about the City of Dallas proper."
But he also clearly stated that he "couldn't speak for them."
Marshall's statement, paired with the Adelson's Irving land purchase, does make one wonder where within the Dallas area the Mavericks could eventually play.
The legislative aspect Marshall referenced could be a major factor in which North Texas city they could end up in.
Cuban has not been shy about the fact that his sale of a majority of the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson family is part of a bigger vision for building a new arena and casino resort in the area -- a development that he believes would transform the Dallas area into a "top-five travel destination" in the United States. But, while experts see Cuban's sale of the Mavs as part of a renewed effort by the Adelson-owned Las Vegas Sands Corporation and other supporters to legalize gambling in the state, casino gambling remains illegal in Texas.
On Monday, Dallas City Council members on the Government Performance and Financial Management Committee weighed the value of legalized gambling during a forum in which they heard testimony on the benefits and drawbacks from officials in other cities where casinos have opened. While that meeting was initially called specifically to discuss the city's ongoing back-and-forth surrounding legalized poker rooms, the Mavericks' open interest in aligning with casinos heightened its stakes.
The debate over legalized gambling in Dallas has been raging at City Hall since the news of the Mavs sale became official. In a January 9 city council meeting, council addressed the possibility of legalizing gambling. During that session, council member Adam Bazaldua spoke in support of the possibility, suggesting that tax revenue from casinos could be used to help shore up the city's long-troubled police and fire pension system. Council member Carolyn King Arnold took the opposing stance, arguing that casinos prey on the poor and can become hubs for crime.
"We have to be prepared -- so, yes, we were talking about it," Arnold told WFAA on Thursday. "This is an information-gathering period."
Dallas City Council will again discuss the possibility of legalized gambling at its February 21 meeting, Arnold said. But, she added, discussions about casinos are all speculative without the state legislature's signoff. While the interests of local casinos and the Mavericks may one day soon become intrinsically tied, she said her focus is mostly squared on the Mavericks.
"It's all about the Mavs, and it's all about Dallas," she said. "This is the place they need to be, and we welcome them and invite them and encourage them to stay with us. But most important, it's just about that partnership. We want to continue the partnership of that, and being a family."
The Dallas area has a reputation as a supremely sports-friendly market -- it's the Sports Business Journal's reigning top market for sports business -- but Dallas proper has been losing influence in sports business to its suburbs over the past few decades.
Locals will recall there have been some blunders on Dallas' hands on this front, like when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones squarely pointed the blame at then-Dallas mayor Laura Miller for why his team decided to build AT&T Stadium in Arlington rather than in its namesake city.
In 2022, hoping to turn that streak around, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson launched of a city council committee focused on attracting and retaining professional sports franchises in the city limits called the Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Sports Recruitment and Retention.
"For too long, Dallas has been too passive when it comes to attracting and retaining professional sports franchises," Mayor Johnson said at the time. "Dallas is a big-league city, and this new committee will help us compete at the highest level.”
In his memo announcing the committee's formation, he noted specifics that the city has missed out on.
"The City of Dallas has already lost out on too many professional sports-related economic development opportunities over the years," Mayor Johnson wrote. "The *Dallas* Cowboys are based in the City of Frisco and play in the City of Arlington. FC Dallas plays in the City of Frisco. The Texas Rangers play in the City of Arlington in a brand-new stadium that should have been built in Downtown Dallas. The *Dallas* Wings also play in the City of Arlington. The Professional Golfers’ Association of America no longer hosts any tournaments in the City of Dallas, as the AT&T Byron Nelson is now played in the City of McKinney."
Since the formation of the mayor's committee, the Dallas Open -- the professional tennis tournament hosted previously at SMU (technically located in University Park and not in Dallas city limits, but still close enough to Dallas by the mayor's estimation) -- also announced plans to move to Frisco.
Will the Mavs be next?
It's clear that Cuban and Marshall both firmly believe that the future of the Mavericks will arrive as part of an entertainment experience located somewhere within the North Texas region.
Whether that's within Dallas proper or in a neighboring city, however, still remains unclear.
"We're going to continue to support our Mavs, and we don't want them to go anywhere," council member Arnold said. "So we're just going to hope that we have the same type of relationship [as a city with the team] moving forward. But I would simply say this to those individuals who are extremely concerned: Don't panic. We just have to wait to see what comes out of Austin."
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