Dumont says the Valley View option has not been exercised, so there is nothing to present to Cuban, and he wants the dispute out of open court.
Patrick Dumont has told a Texas business court that the arena deal Mark Cuban wants access to does not yet qualify as a business opportunity, Ben Horney of Front Office Sports reported Saturday.
The response came in a July 31 filing, heavily redacted, that moved the case out of Texas state court and into the state's business court. Arena Development Intermediate has not exercised its option on the Valley View property. There is "no current business opportunity to present to Mr. Cuban," the filing says. Cuban has asked to be part of the option process anyway.
A business court judge denied Cuban's request to send the case back to state court on Wednesday. Dumont argued Thursday that the whole matter belongs in private arbitration, pointing to a provision in Cuban's limited partnership agreement. Cuban named Arena Development Intermediate as the respondent. He did not name Dallas Basketball Ltd., which operates the Dallas Mavericks, or Radical Arena Ltd., which operates American Airlines Center. Dumont told the court that choice was made to get around the arbitration clause. He also objected to the press the state court filing drew, telling the court the parties had agreed to keep disputes confidential.
Mavs Roundtable's Mike Fisher first reported the Rule 202 petition on July 8, obtaining the paperwork Cuban's companies filed in Dallas County District Court. Fisher reported that Cuban was seeking information about the financing of the new arena at Valley View and about how sites for it were identified. Arena Development Intermediate was created by Dumont and the Mavericks to handle the project. Cuban's paperwork, as reported by Fisher, describes the entity's non-disclosure as consistent with a pattern from Dumont.
The petition Fisher obtained lays out a handshake deal Cuban says accompanied his December 2023 sale, which was valued at roughly $3.5 billion. Cuban would run basketball operations. Dumont would run the business side, including real estate and the pursuit of a destination resort casino in Dallas. Nico Harrison got basketball operations instead. Cuban wrote that when he raised it with Dumont by phone, Dumont asked why he would hand over control of a $4 billion asset.
Cuban retained 27% of the franchise in the sale. The Adelson and Dumont families hold 69% between them and have the right to buy another 20% of Cuban's stake, which would drop him to 7%.
Dallas signed option agreements in June on roughly 104 acres in North Dallas at the former Valley View Mall site. The team's lease at American Airlines Center runs through 2031.
Cuban has been public about the relationship for months. He told the Intersections podcast in March that he regrets who he sold to. He told Front Office Sports in April that a group had approached him about buying the team back. Cuban said he offered to contribute his equity. He also said he never expected the Adelsons to sell. On July 25, after his Harbinger Sports Partners group bought a minority stake in the Athletics, Cuban said the pivot away from the Mavericks was not his choice.
Masai Ujiri was hired as president of basketball operations and alternate governor on May 4. Jason Kidd and the Mavericks agreed to part ways 15 days later. Mike Schmitz was named general manager, and Dusty May was hired as head coach on June 23.
Court records in the Dallas County case have been sealed. It is not clear who requested that.
