Mark Cuban has reportedly now filed for a ‘pre-suit deposition’ with allegations against the Mavericks’ governor, Patrick Dumont, targeted at his new venture of building the team’s future arena on North Dallas’ former Valley View Mall’s 104-acre site.
Cuban’s business submitted a ‘Rule 202’ application on Tuesday. This is a pre-suit request to carry out some discovery (such as deposition and document production) to look into possible claims against ‘Arena Development Intermediate LLC’ (ADI), an organization that Dumont and the Mavericks seem to have established to help with the development of the new arena and associated opportunities.
“Petitioner seeks information regarding the financing of a new Dallas Mavericks arena at Valley View and the exploration and identification of locations for the new arena, among other things,” read the court filings.
The documents suggest that Cuban is intentionally being kept out of all decisions and any information related to the new arena’s development. He feels this conflicts with his “existing contracts and rights.”
“The Petitioners’ potential claims arise from and relate to these purposeful contacts; specifically, ADI’s pursuit of business opportunities related to the Dallas Mavericks and their new arena may improperly interfere with Petitioners’ existing Texas contracts and related rights,” the filings further read.
Cuban pointed to Dumont specifically in his filings as well. He claims ADI’s “non-disclosure is consistent with Dumont’s adversarial business practices and history of failing to uphold his end of the bargain.”
He then claims that when Mark Cuban sold a majority share of the Mavericks to the Adelson family for $3.5 billion, they had a “handshake deal” on clearly separating the areas of responsibility between the new ownership collective.
The 67-year-old billionaire claims it included “the clear division of responsibilities: Cuban would retain authority over the Mavericks’ basketball operations, while Dumont would oversee the business side of the franchise, including real estate development and the pursuit of an integrated, destination resort casino in Dallas.”
“Dumont did not fulfill his end of this agreement, and I did not retain control over basketball operations. Instead, former General Manager Nico Harrison was put in charge, leading to the trade of Luka Doncic. When I discussed this with Dumont over the phone, he told me, ‘Why would I give you control of a $4 billion asset?'” Cuban’s filings also claimed.
Cuban was initially lured into the deal as he supported the Adelson family’s goal to make Dallas one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country.
“I supported the (Adelson family’s) Las Vegas Sands’ effort because I believed that having a Venetian-style destination resort would turn Dallas into the largest tourist destination in the United States and be worth potentially $10 billion,” Cuban wrote.
But it seems that the two sides are slowly growing further apart and might be entering the range of irreparable damage to business relations.
Mark Cuban is apparently trying to give Patrick Dumont a taste of his own medicine, since it feels like he’s telling Dumont that even he can breach the contract and step into the real estate development side of the franchise, which is alleged to be Dumont’s responsibility under the original agreement.
It remains to be seen if this conflict sees the light of a courtroom one day, but for now, Cuban is only seeking to depose the parties involved with ADI, including Patrick Dumont.
