Dallas Mavericks Aren’t Moving to Las Vegas, Say Adelson, Dumont

The Dallas Mavericks are staying in North Texas with ownership making it clear it doesn’t plan to move the NBA franchise to Las Vegas.

Last Saturday, the team traded superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, stoking renewed speculation that owners Dr. Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont want to move the organization to Las Vegas. Adelson is the largest individual shareholder in Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) — the gaming company her late husband Sheldon Adelson built into one of the industry’s largest. Dumont, her son-in-law, is president and chief financial officer (CFO) of the casino operator. The two families own 73% of the Mavericks with billionaire Mark Cuban retaining a 27% stake following the 2023 sale.

Since that $3.5 billion transaction, speculation has run rampant that Adelson and Dumont would like to move the team to Las Vegas, but they’ve consistently said the Mavs will remain in Dallas — a stance reiterated earlier this week.

On Monday, two days after the trade that rocked the NBA, General Manager Nico Harrison reportedly held a conference call with team staff, making clear that Adelson and Dumont will keep the organization in Dallas. In a statement provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a Mavs representative said “families have absolutely no plans to move the team out of North Texas.”

Mavs Las Vegas Move Superficial Rumor at Best

On the surface, there is credibility to rumors involving the potential move of nearly any NBA team, save for a handful, to Las Vegas. Speculation that the league wants to bring a franchise to US casino center is among the longest-running chatter in the domestic sports scene.

There’s also an economic argument — a valid one at that — for keeping the team in Dallas. The Dallas-Fort Worth media market is significantly larger than Las Vegas, meaning the Mavericks can ink more lucrative local media deals in their current city than they would in Las Vegas.

Additionally, the NBA constitution mandates that owners interested in moving teams must petition fellow governors for approval, implying there’s a potentially lengthy process involved with moving an established team to a new market.

Quashing Mavs/Vegas Rumor Part II

In July 2023, Sands acquired 108 acres of land near Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, stoking speculation that the land could eventually be home to a casino resort. Several months later, the Adelson and Dumont families acquired the majority stake in the Mavs.

The gaming company is also the driving force behind Texas Destination Resort Alliance, which wants to give Texans the opportunity to vote on the issue of casino resorts, and it’s spending millions of dollars lobbying Texas politicians to get on board with the idea of casino gaming in the state.

Prior to selling majority control of the team, Cuban said he’d like to see an entertainment district built in North Texas with a new arena for the Mavs and a Sands-operated gaming venue as the centerpieces. Add it all up and the rumors about the team moving to Las Vegas are unfounded.