Mark Cuban, now a minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks after selling the majority of his stake to the Adelson and Dumont families in 2023, is reportedly looking to diversify his interests in the professional sports ranks as part of an investment group whose first fund will cap out at $750 million.
Cuban and his cronies in the private equity group Harbinger Sports Partners are looking to purchase minority stakes in various professional sports teams across the NFL, MLB, and NBA, according to Bloomberg.
The brand of ownership the group plans to undertake with targeted franchises appears to be completely different than the active role he took as majority owner of the Mavericks. He served as the majority owner of the team from January 2000 to December 2023 and took a hands-on approach to building the Mavs into a contender on the court and a top-10 NBA franchise in terms of value.
Harbinger will focus on acquiring stakes of as much as 5%, the group said in a statement. It expects to invest $50 million to $150 million in each transaction and use secondary offerings to exit the positions within seven to 10 years. That would set the group up for stakes in between five and 15 teams with the initial $750 million fund. It’s a different approach from other pro sports ownership consortiums, such as Dallas-based Arctos Partners, which typically starts their investments at 5%, according to D Magazine. Arctos owns 17% of the Sacramento Kings, 10% of the Buffalo Bills and 12.5% of the French Ligue 1 soccer team Paris Saint Germain.
Cuban reportedly told D Magazine that what sets Harbinger apart from its bigger competitors in the space is that “we can move quickly,” but would not go into specifics on what the group would consider a good return on the investments made over the course of the 7-10 year investment period. The group is looking to have funds raised by 2027.
Cuban’s partners in the Harbinger group include Steve Cannon, the former chief executive officer of the company that controls the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, and Rashaun Williams, a venture capitalist and limited partner in the Falcons. Eric Campbell, former chief investment officer for Value Investment Group, will serve as Harbinger’s managing director.
“This is more than just capital — it’s insider access, strategy, and operational expertise coming together to shape the future of sports investment,” read a post from the Harbinger Group on LinkedIn.
Cuban sold 73% of his ownership stake in the Mavericks to the Adelson family for $3.5 billion in December 2023. He still owns 27 percent of the team but has no decision-making power in either the front office or basketball operations, as he has repeated every chance he’s been given since general manager Nico Harrison hauled off and traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Cuban purchased his stake from Ross Perot Jr. in January 2000 for $280 million.
Pro sports franchises are one of the most attractive investment opportunities out there for the already insanely wealthy, as valuations continue to skyrocket. The Boston Celtics sold for a record $6.1 billion in March. The potential growth in owning pro sports teams, even as little as a 2-3% stake, far outpaces investment opportunities in equity markets, where the common plebeians play.
So, if it’s confusing as to why someone like Cuban would willingly take a backseat in the investment that made him a household name, then take an even further backseat in subsequent investments in pro sports, here’s the answer in the simplest of terms. The rich get richer because they can invest hundreds of millions of dollars in things that are safe bets to return billions.