As Game 3 of the NBA Finals kicked off Wednesday at American Airlines Center, new Dallas Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont sat courtside, surrounded by the pantheon of Texas sports elite.
To his right: former NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash, and three-time Super Bowl champion Emmitt Smith. Nearby, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who played high school and college football in Texas, was cheering.
Dumont, the son-in-law of billionaire Miriam Adelson, the president of gambling giant Las Vegas Sands, purchased a majority stake in the Mavericks from Mark Cuban late last year with his family. The deal values the franchise at $3.5 billion. Since then, he has become a regular at the tournament and is actively adapting to his new home.
“I don’t think there are a lot of cities in America where you show up and everybody embraces you,” Dumont said at the team’s practice facility before Game 4 against the Boston Celtics. Dominated the entire series and pushed Dallas to the climax. The Mavericks ultimately won 122-84, although no team in the NBA has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs. “I’m very proud to be a Texan and it’s fun to be a part of.”
The Mavericks purchase underscores the family’s efforts to deepen ties to the state, including Sands Corp.’s desire to build a casino resort that would attract money and jobs to Texas. But in a state that has resisted gambling for years, Dumont said he and his family are ready to play the long game.
“We really want to go to Texas,” the 49-year-old said, referring to LVS and casino gambling. “We think this is a great investment opportunity and we are here for the long term. We will continue to discuss what this means for the state of Texas and how it can benefit the communities where these resorts are located.
Meanwhile, basketball was booming and Dallas was in the midst of a professional sports renaissance. The Texas Rangers won the Baseball World Series last year. The Dallas Stars advance to the NHL Western Conference Finals. The Mavericks exceeded the expectations of many basketball experts. The city is on the shortlist to host the 2026 World Cup finals and will host the most matches.
The NBA is about to sign a new long-term broadcast deal that will pay the league about $76 billion over 11 years, three times the current deal. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said before the Finals that the league would turn to expansion, possibly overseas, after completing negotiations for new television rights. Las Vegas and Seattle are both considered favorites for new NBA teams. Mexico City is also a contender. The WNBA saw a surge of interest when Caitlin Clark joined the league.
“The NBA is a multi-faceted industry,” Dumont said, sitting in the team’s “Real MVP Conference Room,” where research on the upcoming NBA draft must be kept secret. “This is a media business, a hospitality business and a culinary business. It’s all about experience. Those are things we do well and we think we can bring those to the city of Dallas.
All of this makes having a team in one of the fastest growing regions in the United States even more attractive. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is building a new campus in Dallas that will house about 5,000 employees. BlackRock Inc. and Citadel Securities were among the investors backing the Texas Stock Exchange upstart. The Dallas-Fort Worth area now has more financial workers than Chicago or Los Angeles, and is second only to New York.
“The state grew for a reason,” he said. “There are good schools there. There are good communities. People are working hard. A lot of companies are trying to move here now because they realize that not every state works this way.
Behind the scenes, the Adelson family has laid the groundwork for a massive political challenge to legalizing gambling in Texas. The family has recruited an army of lobbyists and increased political spending. Texas Ethics Commission records show Adelson has poured $16.5 million into campaigns and political action committees in Texas since 2022.
Given Adelson’s deep pockets, this level of spending should not be at risk. The 78-year-old widow of Sands founder Sheldon Adelson has a net worth of $33.1 billion, making her one of the 50 richest people on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
This year, the Texas Legislature voted down a bill that would have legalized online and casino gambling. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who controls legislation in the state Senate, said he would not hold a vote unless he received Republican support.
There are some early signs that the political tide is turning. About 75% of Texans support legislation to bring casino-style resorts to Texas, according to a January 2023 poll from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs. Last year, a House committee passed a Republican-backed bill proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing casino gambling at destination resorts, a first in Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott, who received $1 million in campaign contributions from Adelson in 2022, also said he would open casinos.
“The question is how to do it in a way that works for Texas,” Dumont said. “How do you approach sports betting? How do you approach gaming? How do you make sure you get travel revenue? That’s really what the discussion is about.
Currently, Dumont and his family have support from other Texas tycoons.
Tilman Fertitta, the billionaire owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets and Golden Nugget Casino, has advocated for years for Texas to join dozens of other states in allowing Las Vegas-style casino resorts. This would spur job growth and bring more tourism dollars to restaurants, shops and hotels.
“Let’s do something to bring tourism, business travelers and conventions to Texas — and to do that, it takes billions of dollars’ worth of real estate,” he said in a February interview Zhong said. “We need to do it right and build casinos instead of having a bunch of slot machines in every little grocery store.”
Cuban, who still owns a minority stake in the Mavericks and advises the team, talked about the potential for real estate development anchored by casinos and ballparks.
“When you think of all the places you want to save money for a vacation, Texas is not one of them,” Cuban told the Dallas Morning News at the time of the sale to the Adelson family. “There’s no destination that’s really worth saving your money for. That’s a problem and I think resort gaming is going to have a huge impact.
There is still a lot of opposition. Rob Kohler is a lobbyist for the Christian Life Commission, the public policy arm of the Texas Baptist General Convention, and has been in the state for more than two decades Against gambling.
“There’s been a lot of controversy about the Adelson family’s spending,” he said in an interview. “But they’re not the first wealthy people to try to expand gambling. If it had anything to do with the amount of money spent, gambling would have expanded in Texas long ago.
Dumont said that right now his focus is on helping his team win.
“I have a responsibility to ensure the success of the team,” he said. “I can’t give you a specific road map, but my goal is to show up and help the Mavericks have success in the championship game.”
