In sale of Mavericks, Mark Cuban pushes for legalized gambling in Texas
Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban has agreed to sell a majority of the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA to the family that owns the Las Vegas Sands casino.
Under the deal, valued at $3.5 billion according to the Associated Press, Cuban will retain control of basketball operations. Cuban has expressed interest in a new stadium and casino in Dallas. It’s a move that would further join the worlds of professional sports and gambling — but there’s a catch.
When it comes to bets and gambling, the world of professional sports has certainly changed its tune over the years, noted Victor Matheson with the College of the Holy Cross.
“So, 25 years ago, sports leagues in the U.S. were terrified of gambling,” he said. “They were worried about things like, in the NBA, referee Tim Donaghy was fixing matches.”
Now, professional sports teams are lobbying in favor of betting, and since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide ban, dozens of states have legalized it. One of the biggest holdouts is Texas.
“Religious groups are concerned about the fate of gambling because they think that it brings an unsavory element potentially into the state,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist with the University of Houston.
The Texas legislature, which meets every two years, has kept sports betting illegal for now, but “gaming interests are in this for the long term,” Rottinghaus said. “This is a massive state. There is a tremendous amount of revenue to be had here for gaming interests.”
In states where sports gambling is legal, Victor Matheson said that roughly $1,000 of wagers are made per capita each year.
“It means about 30 billion potential dollars of wagers being made,” he said. “It means somewhere around $2 billion or $3 billion of revenue being generated by the sportsbooks.”
And for Mark Cuban, this deal could help advance plans for a new Mavericks stadium, said Andrew Zimbalist with Smith College.
“The team now stands a better chance of having a new arena built with a casino next door to it,” he said.
In the state, Las Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson will join Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who also owns casinos and promotes sports betting in Texas, per Jordan Bender with Citizens JMP Securities.
“With Las Vegas Sands now coming into the mix and owning another sports team within Texas, you know, that is a very, very powerful, influential group of people that are stepping into the state,” said Bender. “They’ll definitely be increased pressure to get, you know, whether it’s brick-and-mortar casinos or sports gambling or even both into the state in the coming years.”
In other words, the odds of legal sports gambling in Texas may be improving.