NBA co-owner Dallas Mavericks desires to bring gambling to Texas

To his right: former NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash, in addition to three-time Super Bowl winner Emmitt Smith. Also cheering nearby was Patrick Mahomes, quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, who played highschool and college football in Texas.

Dumont, the president of gambling giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. and son-in-law of billionaire Miriam Adelson, and his family bought a controlling stake within the Mavs from Mark Cuban late last yr. The franchise was valued at $3.5 billion. Since then, he has been a daily at games and is settling in well at his recent second home.

“I don’t think there are many cities in America where you can show up and everyone is so welcoming and accommodating,” Dumont said on the team’s practice facility before Game 4 against the Boston Celtics, who dominated the series and brought Dallas to the brink of elimination. The Mavs ended up winning 122-84, although no NBA team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit within the playoffs. “It makes you very proud to be a Texan and it’s just a lot of fun to be a part of it.”

The Mavs purchase underscored the family’s efforts to deepen its ties within the state, including Sands’ desire to construct casino resorts that bring money and jobs to Texas. But in a state that has resisted efforts to advertise gambling for years, he and his family are willing to play the long game, Dumont said.

“We really want to be in the state of Texas,” the 49-year-old said, referring to LVS and casino gambling. “We think this is a great investment opportunity and we’re here for the long term. We’ll continue to talk about the benefits this brings to the state of Texas and how it can benefit the communities where these resorts are located.”

Meanwhile, the basketball business is flourishing and Dallas is within the midst of a renaissance of skilled sports. The Texas Rangers won the World Series in baseball last yr. The Dallas Stars made it to the Western Conference Finals of the NHL. And the Mavs exceeded the expectations of many basketball experts. The city was on the pick list will host the ultimate of the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and host many of the matches.

The NBA is near signing recent long-term broadcast contracts that may give the league 76 billion US dollars over 11 years – thrice the present contract. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said before the Finals that the league would consider expansion, possibly overseas, once negotiations on the brand new television rights were accomplished. Las Vegas and Seattle are each considered favorites for brand new NBA franchises. Mexico City can be a contender. The WNBA has seen an enormous surge in interest after Caitlin Clark joined the league.

“The NBA is a multifaceted business,” said Dumont, sitting within the team’s “Real MVP Conference Room,” where research for the upcoming NBA Draft needed to be kept secret. “It’s a media business, a hospitality business and a culinary business. It’s all about experience. Those are the things we do well and believe we can bring to the city of Dallas.”

All this makes owning a team in one in all the fastest growing regions within the USA more attractive. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is constructing a recent campus which can house roughly 5,000 employees in Dallas. BlackRock Inc. and Citadel Securities are among the many investors backing an emerging company Stock Exchange in TexasThe Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area now has more employees within the finance sector than Chicago or Los Angeles, only New York is ahead.

“The state is growing for a reason,” he said. “There are good schools. There are good communities. People work hard. A lot of companies are trying to move here now because they realize that not every state is run like this.”

Behind the scenes, the Adelson family is already laying the groundwork for the immense political challenge of legalizing gambling in Texas. The family recruited a military of lobbyists and ramped up its political spending. Since 2022, Adelson has pumped $16.5 million into Texas campaigns and political motion committees, Texas Ethics Commission records show.

But given Adelson’s bulging pockets, these expenses are unlikely to be in danger. With a net price of $33.1 billion, the 78-year-old widow of Sands founder Sheldon Adelson is among the many 50 richest people on the earth, in response to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

This yr, the Texas legislature rejected bills that might have legalized online and casino gambling. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who oversees laws within the Senate, has said he is not going to initiate a vote unless Republicans support it.

There are early signs that the political tide is popping. About 75% of Texans support laws to bring casino resorts to Texas, in response to a January 2023 poll by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs. And a Republican-backed bill proposing a constitutional amendment allowing casino gambling at vacation resorts passed a House committee last yr – a primary in Texas.

Governor Greg Abbott, who received $1 million in campaign contributions from Adelson in 2022, also signaled openness about casinos.

“The question is how do you do it in a way that’s right for Texas,” Dumont said. “How do you deal with sports betting? How do you deal with gambling? How do you make sure you get the tourism benefit? That’s really what the discussion is about.”

Dumont and his family are currently supported by other Texas tycoons.

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets and the Golden Nugget casinos, has spent years support Texas joins dozens of other states in allowing Las Vegas-style casino resorts, arguing that it will spur job growth and produce more tourists to restaurants, shops and hotels.

“Let’s do something to bring tourism, business and conventions to Texas — and it’s got to be billion-dollar properties that do that,” he said in an interview in February. “We’ve got to do it right and build the casinos, not have a bunch of slot machines in every single little grocery store.”

Cuban, who still owns a minority stake within the Mavs and advises the team, has hinted on the potential for real estate projects centered around a casino and arena.

“When you think of all the places you want to save up for to go on vacation, Texas is not one of them,” Cuban told the Dallas Morning News across the time of the sale to the Adelson clan. “There is no real destination you can save up for. That’s a problem, and I think gambling at resorts would have a huge impact.”

There continues to be loads of opposition. Rob Kohler, a lobbyist for the Christian Life Commission, the political arm of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, has been fighting gambling within the state for greater than 20 years.

“There’s been a lot of fuss about how much the Adelsons have spent,” he said in an interview. “But they’re not the first rich people to try to expand gambling. If it’s the amount of money being spent, Texas would have seen an expansion of gambling a long time ago.”

At the moment, Dumont says, he’s concentrating on helping the team win.

“I’m responsible for ensuring the team’s success,” he said. “I can’t give you an exact plan as to what that means, but my goal is to be there and help the Mavericks succeed in the championships.”