Amidst the news of Miriam Adelson – widow to a Las Vegas casino magnate – purchasing an ownership stake in the Mavericks, I’ve seen some folks express anxiety at the possibility of the Mavericks moving to Sin City. I think there is a 0% chance of the Mavericks being relocated anywhere in the foreseeable future, and I’ll attempt to explain why in this post.
To be clear, this post is not meant to make a value judgment about this deal, sports gambling, or the morality of our new owners. I just want to set the record straight about the possibility of relocation and assuage any fears of the Mavs pulling a Supersonics. Without further ado, here are four reasons why the Mavericks will NOT relocate from Dallas:
**1) Cuban still controls the team**
Mark Cuban, who still has full control over basketball operations following this deal, is possibly the most notable Dallas enthusiast in the world. His ties to the Metroplex run deep, to the point where he [literally owns a town](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang,_Texas) at the southern reaches of DFW. As such, it’s no surprise that Cuban has already [confirmed](https://twitter.com/newyscruggs/status/1729716425550393579) that he has no plans to move the Mavs in the wake of this sale.
Personally, I sincerely doubt that Cuban would even consider selling the team to anybody seeking relocation. Even if he was open to it, I don’t think any prospective new owner would want to move the Mavericks anyways, because:
**2) DFW is a HUGE sports market**
The DFW Metroplex has \~8 million people, and is one of the fastest-growing places in America. It is easily a top 5-10 media market in the nation. Moving to ANY other market – let alone Nevada, which has less than half the population of DFW alone – would make very little financial sense.
It’s also hard to understate just how important sports are in Dallas; it is easily our #1 cultural export. The Cowboys are obviously the dominant force, but the Mavs are an easy #2 and have fielded a number of fun and highly competitive teams over the past couple decades. Undermining that history by deliberately relocating from such an iconic sports market would be utterly nonsensical.
**3) NBA expansion is coming soon**
It’s basically an open secret that the NBA will be expanding after the next TV deal is signed, and in all likelihood the two new teams will be in Seattle and Las Vegas. Relocating any franchise to a city which will likely have a team of its own by the end of the decade would be an unnecessary hassle on top of probably being impossible. The Mavs lease at the AAC doesn’t even [expire until 2031](https://www.forbes.com/sites/doylerader/2021/11/12/mark-cuban-says-dallas-mavericks-have-less-than-50-chance-of-staying-in-current-arena/?sh=62949828565b), by which time Vegas will almost definitely have an NBA franchise.
**4) Cuban and Adelson’s gamble**
Cuban has [openly stated](https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2023/11/29/mark-cuban-the-mavericks-and-the-great-plan-to-bring-casinos-to-dallas/) that he wants the next Mavs arena to be at the center of a casino and resort. Unlike in Nevada, traditional gambling and non-fantasy sportsbetting is illegal in Texas. However, Cuban and Adelson are clearly positioning themselves to be at the forefront of a renewed lobbying effort to loosen these regulations. For one thing, the Adelson family are notable supporters of Gov. Abbott. And more broadly, if there’s one thing to know about Texas state politics, it’s that money and big business almost always wins. Whether it’s right or wrong, I think our state politicians will have a hard time ignoring the many billions of dollars which legal gambling could bring to Texas. If this pans out, the Mavs have no reason at all to move to Vegas.
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TL;DR: Cuban still controls the team and likes Dallas too much to relocate. Even then, Dallas’ sports market is too huge and iconic to make relocation worthwhile. Las Vegas will get its own team soon anyways, and Cuban/Adelson seem more focused on legalizing gambling in Texas than moving to a place where it’s already allowed.
by EvadTB
7 Comments
Was this ever in doubt? Even if the mavs ever left, another team will replace them ASAP, the Spurs would move from SA so fast if DFW market was available.
So, I don’t think they would try to move the team. The franchise’s value would drop like a rock. Doesn’t mean that they’d never do it, but I feel like it’s unlikely. I also feel like Cuban would only sell to them if they for sure planned on keeping the team in Dallas. It would be pretty unthinkable to move the team as is today.
That said, even with Cuban in charge of basketball decisions, it doesn’t insulate the team from the new owner’s decisions. They’ll have a controlling stake. If they want something and Cuban doesn’t, they can do it anyway. Cuban will have very little leverage to affect change.
Also, the circumstances that make it unlikely to happen can change. There’s a history of owners intentionally tanking their team’s value in a market to justify moving the team to a more desirable one. I’m not saying that it will happen, and I hope it doesn’t. But it does seem like a possibility.
When Cuban bought the team, he immediately started trying to improve the franchise. He spent money on free agents, created low-cost seating to encourage fans to fill the stadium, made it clear he was behind his players every step of the way. No one ever doubted Cuban’s commitment to the team. The new owner may show up and do the same thing. They may not. It’s an open-ended question as to what will happen. We’ll only know in the next couple of years.
The danger of relocation isn’t now, it’s in the future. What if 10 years from now, the Mavs are in rebuild mode with few wins and the arena is starting to look outdated?
Also, it doesn’t matter what good rationale reasons there are to NOT move. If a billionaire wants to move, they will even if it doesn’t make sense. They have enough money to not care.
Said this on another thread, but my major concern is not relocation.
My major concern is that this move basically stakes the team on getting gambling legalized in Texas. If it’s not legalized, the Adelson’s investment will fail and they’ll likely look to sell the team. And that puts the team at risk of being purchased by another bad owner (who would surely cede control from Cuban).
Also, not sure how the most powerful team in town feels about this and I’m not sure Jerry will be supportive of the Mavs trying to take a larger share of the sports entertainment pie in DFW. I could see him lobbying against legalizing sports gambling so that this venture ultimately fails.
Idk if they will leave or not. I really hope not. But if she gets her resort arena anybody working class will be priced out of attending games.
I don’t think they will, I’d thin that some of 32 billon is gonna grease some pockets, and get a casino/arena. Tx gambling is huge, Vegas isn’t Vegas anymore with all the casinos that have popped up over the last 30 years and i would think long term predictions would say they’ll run out of water. Dallas with casinos would be wild. I would think that Louisiana & later Oklahoma casinos and politicians have lobbied pretty hard for tx to not have gambling, with 32 bill, the game changes
The team owner ultimately holds the authority to relocate the team, then the commissioner of the league and a panel of other owners would have to approve it. I’m pretty sure that’s entirety the process, and Cuban doesn’t really have a say anymore
Still don’t think they’d relocate though, but there’s definitely a possibility