Nov. 29 (UPI) — Las Vegas Sands casino controlling shareholder Miriam Adelson is reportedly selling a $2 billion stake in the company to buy the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We have been advised by the selling stockholders that they currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, along with additional cash on hand, to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a binding purchase agreement, subject to customary league approvals,” the Sands said in the filing.
While the SEC filing did not name the Mavericks as the purchase target, Sportico reported the Adelson family was buying a majority stake in the team but that owner Mark Cuban would continue to retain operational control of it. The Dallas Morning News also reported the story.
The stock sale will reduce Adelson’s stake in the casino company by 4%. Miriam Adelson is the widow Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson who died in 2021. She has had no corporate involvement in the company but her son-in-law Patrick Dumont is president of the Sands and a member of the company’s board of directors.
Adelson, 78, is the widow of Sheldon Adelson, the founder of Las Vegas Sands who died in 2021. She has no role with the corporate side of the company, but through a trust and her personal shares, she controls 56.4% of the Sands. Miriam Adelson is ranked at No. 24 on the Forbes 400 with a net worth of $32.3 billion.
She has cut back on her husband’s political donations. When he was alive, Sheldon Adelson was among the GOP’s largest donors, although Miriam Adelson has met with presidential hopeful Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump, the front runner in next year’s election.
Las Vegas, long considered a prime market for professional sports, has added a handful of teams and high profile events to the city in recent years. Formula One has added a stop in Las Vegas to its Grand Prix race tour.
Major League Baseball recently approved the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to a $1.5 billion stadium planned for the Strip that is scheduled to open in 2028 following in the footsteps of their pro football counterparts and stadium mates.
The Raiders moved from Oakland to Las Vegas for the 2020 NFL season, which led the NFL to award Super Bowl LVIII to Allegiant Stadium in February. With the A’s move, Oakland County Coliseum, long a central focus of competitive professional sports in its heyday, will now sit empty.
The Vegas Golden Knights, an expansion team in the National Hockey League, began play at T-Mobile Arena in 2017.
The Adelson family had a hand in bringing the Raiders to Las Vegas, but Sheldon Adelson, who had committed $650 million to help build Allegiant Stadium, pulled his funding after the state Legislature passed a $750 million measure tied to a hotel tax on the Strip.
The NBA has been widely thought to be considering expanding to Las Vegas. Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke is planning a 20,000 seat arena built to NBA specifications, part of a $10 billion resort and entertainment complex on land leased to him by the son of the Sands Chairman and CEO.
