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Mark Cuban is best known for turning around the fortunes of the Dallas Mavericks from worst to first, after he bought the team in 2000. After selling his majority stake in 2023 to Miriam Adelson, Cuban announced Thursday his return to a big play in the sports industry: a $750 million private equity fund looking at minority stakes in NBA, NFL and MLB franchises that may be undervalued.
At the same time, Cuban confirmed that Friday’s season finale of Shark Tank (SONY+0.54%), the VC reality show on which he’s appeared since 2011, would be his last episode. He had signaled his imminent departure back in 2023, saying he wanted to spend summers — when the show is filmed — with his kids.
Cuban’s new firm will be called Harbinger Sports Partners, with two men associated with the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL: Rashaun Williams, a limited partner in the team, and Steve Cannon, the recently retired vice chairman and formCEO of AMB Sports and Entertainment, the Falcons’ parent company.
Major-league sports franchises are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, which can make it difficult for exiting owners to find buyers. Sportico estimates there are only 500 people in the world who could afford one. Hence the move toward allowing minority interests to be sold to private equity firms.
Last August, the NFL became the last major league to allow private equity firms to invest in team ownership, up to a 10% stake. The MLB did so in 2019, allowing up to 15% private equity, and the NBA did so in 2020.
Harbinger intends to invest between $50 million to $150 million to acquire positions of up to 5% in 92 franchises in the three North American major leagues. There was no mention of the NHL.
“The professional sports sector is maturing into an institutional-quality asset class,” Williams said in a statement. “Harbinger will be structured to operate within league frameworks while offering long-term capital, operational fluency, and a responsible ownership mindset.”