Around 65% of NBA players go broke within the first five years of retirement. Over the years, that’s become an established fact. But could the NBA—a league whose franchises are worth an average of $3.85 billion—be heading down a similar path in the coming years? That would explain why, after being at the helm of the Dallas Mavericks for 23 years, Mark Cuban sold a majority stake in the franchise. Right? 

“He knows something that we do not,” surmised one of the Underdog NBA YouTube channel hosts. Whether it’s about the Mavericks as a franchise or the NBA in the bigger picture, Mark Cuban’s move surprised many. The host continued, “I thought the prices were just going up and up. The team’s playing well. Luka [Doncic] is like 24 – like crazy young. I thought you’d at least ride that out.” But then again, he’s Mark Cuban, a businessman who sold his first venture, broadcast.com, at its peak and made billions off it. At the end of the day, “He knows something or knows something coming down the pipeline.” So, what could be that something and what does it mean for the NBA?

This brings in a major aspect of broadcasting rights for the league. Like any other sports establishment, the NBA earns most of its revenue through TV broadcasting rights. Its current nine-year deal with ESPN and Turner Sports—worth around $24 billion—will run out at the end of the 2025-26 season. However, viewership is in a troublesome state right now. Of the last 10 NBA Finals, the four most recent ones have had the lowest viewership. The COVID-19-related Finals had an average viewership of only 7.5 million despite featuring LeBron James and the LA Lakers’ first title in a decade.

As for the 2023 NBA Finals, it saw a 6% drop in viewership from 2022. Despite the dropping numbers, the league expects or at least wants a 200% increase in broadcasting revenue. Estimates of upwards of $75 billion have been made, but that’s still very much speculative. However, there’s a high chance the league may not get what it wants. As per the host of the video, “I thought [broadcasting revenue] was on the up and up. I’ve heard NBC wants to get back in; Amazon definitely wants to get in. I thought they would continue to run the cheque up, but it just doesn’t seem like it’s going that way.” 

“When it comes to the league right now and where the league is headed as far as the TV money [is concerned], I think that well is going to dry up.” As per the hosts, Mark Cuban probably came to sell his stake in the Mavericks for this very reason. “ESPN, as we know, is dead or dying. There’s been a blank cheque to the NBA from [ESPN and Turner] for a long time,” concluded one of the hosts. Considering the ESPN deal will likely not continue because of the dwindling viewership, there’s a high likelihood that the NBA could be in trouble when the time to sign a new broadcasting revenue contract comes along.

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So, the best possible explanation for Mark Cuban selling his stake is probably because he sensed the ongoing instability here. While this is just a speculation, what did the former Dallas Mavericks owner have to say about why he did what he did?

What were Mark Cuban’s reasons for selling a majority stake in the Mavericks?

Well, in this case, speculation isn’t far off from the truth. As per Forbes, Mark Cuban gave the media his two cents on why selling was the right call for him. He said, “Media companies are going out of business. Or they’re consolidating. That world is changing. And so what went from an advantage was not so much an advantage anymore.” Cuban once envisioned owning the team into his old age, but at 65, he cites changes in the business and media landscape, with local TV deals becoming a hindrance. However, that wasn’t all.

“If you look at the teams that spend the most money right now, it’s not because of their media deals. It’s because of the real estate empires that they’ve built. And I have no knowledge in that at all,” Cuban added. In light of this, he sold the majority share in the Mavericks to the families of Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, proprietors of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Per the Associated Press, he believes “Patrick and Miriam, they’re the best in the world at what they do. Literally, around the world.”

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Do you think the NBA will be in trouble when the time comes to sign a new broadcasting rights deal? While Mark Cuban will maintain control of the Mavericks’ basketball operations, could his move to sell prove to be a masterstroke in that case?

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