Purchasing an entire NBA franchise is no easy task, and not cheap either as you can probably expect. Mark Cuban didn’t care about the obstacles that might have been standing in his way, as he went out and bought the Dallas Mavericks back in 2000.
How Did Mark Cuban Buy the Dallas Mavericks? Mark Cuban had to spend $285 million in order to become the majority owner of the Mavericks in 2000. He had been a longtime season ticket holder of the team, so owning the franchise was always on his mind. He was eventually able to structure his finances so he could approach then Mavericks owner Ross Perot Jr in an attempt to buy the team. After some discussions, Perot accepted Cuban’s offer and sold him the organization.
There is still more to the story though. Cuban has talked about the simple reasons he wanted to go ahead and buy the Mavericks organization. He also completely turned the fortunes of the Mavericks when he took over and made them a complete business. Winning the Texas franchise’s first NBA Championship along the way.
Why Did He Buy the Mavericks?
We mentioned a bit earlier that Cuban was a season ticket holder for the Mavericks before he bought the team. Him being a massive fan of the team before getting the money to purchase them was a huge reason for him getting interested. Some people thought that Cuban was only making this decision as an investment, and that he wasn’t actually buying the franchise. However, he did an interview that cleared everything up years ago. He said, “Never crossed my mind as an investment. I did it because I love basketball. I love the Mavericks. I am just a huge Mavericks fan. And I have just been blessed and put in a position where I can contribute.” He continued by saying that he was all-in straight away when he approached Perot with the offer. That he knew that the team was a business, one that required a lot of money in order to win games and in turn win championships. This was part of the reason why he has been such a strong owner for the team. He knew that the energy and funding he had with him could help take his favorite team to the next level. Fast forward a little over a decade after he made this deal, and the Mavericks went on to win the NBA Championship under his guidance. In short, Cuban wanted to buy this team because he was a longtime fan and wanted to see them take the next step in the league.
Cuban Is a Very Involved Owner
Throughout the years, we usually see team owners sit up in the top of stadiums in boxes with family and friends. These owners usually stay their distance from the game below and don’t always get involved with player decisions and things of that nature. However, Cuban is the complete opposite. He always makes sure to wear team jerseys and can consistently be found in the front rows of the stadium with other fans, cheering his team on. This doesn’t just extend to home games either, Cuban travels with the organization wherever they go and tries his best to never miss out on a Mavericks game. Some team officials and reporters often compare the role that Cuban has with the Mavericks to the one that Jerry Jones has as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Tim MacMahon came out with a report that said, “Mark Cuban makes all the basketball decisions. It just comes down to whose advice he’s taking at the time.” The players must feel a lot more comfortable with the organization because of the energy and involvement that Cuban brings to the team. It isn’t always easy when an owner speaks out about a team not performing well while staying up in their private box as far away from the action as possible.
How Has Cuban Improved the Mavericks
Where do I begin? Mark Cuban has helped this team out in so many ways that I’ve lost count. We mentioned how involved he has been with the team, which is why they were able to overcome the odds and win a championship in 2011. Well, to put this into further perspective, the Mavericks won just 40 percent of their games before Cuban took over. The organization had a bad playoff record of just 21-32. Since Cuban assumed position as owner, they jumped up to winning 69 percent of their regular season games and got their all-time playoff record up to 49-57. Cuban also helped the organization dive a little deeper into cryptocurrency when they started to get really popular. He isn’t one to shy away from new ideas, and instead was one of the first owners to jump on the trend when it came around. He announced that the team would accept Bitcoin as ticket payments in January of 2018. Then a few years after that, he made another announcement that the team would accept Dogecoin as payment for tickets and merchandise. Without Cuban, the team wouldn’t be worth approximately $2.7 billion according to numbers that were taken in October of 2021.
Perot Tried Taking Down Cuban
The man who sold the team away apparently grew unhappy with Cuban. If I had to guess, the anger must have stemmed from the organization making so much money compared to when he was in charge. Nevertheless, he tried to sue Cuban back in 2010 and was hoping for over $100 million in losses. The lawsuit was filed at a bad time because the Mavericks won the championship in 2011. After that, all basis of what the lawsuit was filed on got messy and it was dismissed shortly after that. Perot was still unhappy with the ruling and decided that he would shut down his parking lots by the American Airlines Center in an effort to keep out Mavericks fans that wanted to see the games. Incredibly petty if you ask me.
Needless to say, Cuban has a lot of currency among Mavericks fans, an owner that genuinely puts the on court product and fan experience first, who has overseen an unprecedented period of success.