Mark Cuban has said that there are two kinds of professional sports team owners: The kind that want to win and the kind that want to make money.
You can guess where Cuban falls on that scale -- the man spends. Remember, Cuban bought the Mavericks from Ross Perot Jr. (although Perot kept a minority share) back when the team was a pile of dung on the court, and Cuban changed that. He changed the culture by upgrading the amenities, he changed the team by spending on players. This is a big time franchise now. But one that is losing money.
Perot is the other type of owner. And you have your conflict. How do rich people solve their problems? By paying lawyers.
Perot has sued, according to the Dallas Morning News:
The Dallas Mavericks are “insolvent and and/or in imminent danger of insolvency,” according to a lawsuit filed Monday by a company controlled by Ross Perot Jr.
Dallas Basketball Ltd., which does business as the Dallas Mavericks, had a net loss of $50 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, the lawsuit said. The team has lost $273 million since Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban took over as majority owner in 2000, Perot alleged.
“DBL currently does not have revenues sufficient to pay its operating costs,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Hillwood Investment Properties III Ltd.
Cuban has yet to comment. But you can bet he will.
Forbes estimated that in the prior fiscal year the Mavericks had lost $17.4 million. Forbes also estimates that the team is worth $166 million more than when Cuban purchased it.
Perot -- the son of the man who helped ensure Bill Clinton beat the first George Bush -- doesn’t like all this money losing stuff. And he and Cuban have been paying lawyers a lot of money to have their pissing match for them for years. Perot sued Cuban over the company that operates the American Airlines Center (where the Mavericks play) last July.
This little bit of theater may just be getting started. Man, if they were getting divorced this would be almost as cool as the Dodgers.