11-29-2023, 03:49 PM
(11-29-2023, 03:15 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I'm sure this was mentioned before, but if you haven't seen Cuban's episode of "All the Smoke" yet, there's a portion of it wherein he describes what I believe to be his motivation here quite overtly.
You should watch for yourselves, but the gist is that he believes the tv money is a bubble that will burst within the next decade or so, and that his observation about the rich teams, such as GSW and LAC, is that they're generating the majority of their money through real estate around their stadiums. He basically said he's need to bring in partners "at some point" who understand how real estate works so that the team can generate enough money to compete. "I don't understand real estate"..."I don't care, I just want the Mavericks to win"...I think we're seeing the real life manifestation of that thought.
Maybe it has to do with a bet that gambling will be legal here soon, but maybe the fall back is just that the new group knows how to work real estate deals in general.
This sounds very plausible. I will admit to having reservations about MC's ability to see the future of NBA finances. Post-2011 CBA and his interpretation is a case in point.
I will say that, when MC bought the team for $285M back in 2000 he was considered a wealthy owner that could do wonders for upgrading the team. I think he was one of the wealthiest owners at the time. Then came Ballmer, Allen, Pera, etc.
Now he's somewhere in the middle (ranked 14th in 2022 at Sports Brief, link HERE) but may be facing cash issues due to the crypto fallout and other business performances, nobody knows for sure. Using the net worth in the link, $2B will increase his net worth by ~43% (before taxes, but that's what CPAs are for).
Certainly, one could make the case that deeper pockets could buy an improved team that could function as the centerpiece of a development plan.