$6bn Mark Cuban gave candid response to owning an NFL franchise amid Cowboys interest

Aug 17, 2026 - 13:45

Mark Cuban’s dream of buying into an NFL team will have to wait after Jerry Jones ruled out selling a chunk of the Dallas Cowboys.

The oil mogul appeared to open the door to bringing Cuban on board early in training camp, but has since backtracked and insisted he won’t be giving up any of America’s Team.

Cuban has amassed a $6 billion fortune, per Forbes, and won a championship with the Dallas Mavericks, before selling up due to the pressure.

Mark Cuban’s honest answer on if he could afford NFL team

Unfortunately, he has admitted that running an NFL franchise is beyond even his means.

“I can’t afford an NFL team, and I wouldn’t want to do it,” Cuban said on the Portfolio Players podcast in May.

Cuban has been involved in football and recently revealed that he bankrolled Fernando Mendoza‘s NIL deal that led to Indiana winning a national championship.

The Shark Tank star also revealed an issue with the private equity era in American sports.

“[With] the Mavs, I used to always say that, ‘Okay, I’ll absorb the losses cause winning was more important,'” he added. “But when you have a bunch of investors, you can’t do that. You know it’s not all your money.”

In 2024, the NFL opened the gates for selected firms to buy up to 10 percent stakes in NFL franchises.

Arctos Partners LP has since taken portions of the Buffalo Bills, the Los Angeles Chargers and Cleveland Browns.

The move also helped Tom Brady take a piece of the Raiders, and Cuban could follow a similar path with his firm Harbinger Sports Partners.

It already has an investment in the Las Vegas-bound Athletics baseball team, but nothing in the NFL.

The former Mavs owner admits he regrets who he sold his majority share to

Jones is keeping the Cowboys in the family

With the Cowboys off the table for now, there may be other teams looking for an injection of cash and expertise.

Cuban has plenty of that having taken the Mavs from mediocrity and created a title-winning outfit.

Mark Cuban has seller’s remorse over Mavs

He sold his majority share to Patrick Dumont and Miriam Adelson for $3.5 billion in 2023, leaving him with a 27 percent stake, and admits that he regrets the deal.

“If there was any chance of being able to do that anymore, I would,” Cuban told Front Office Sports in May, when asked whether he wanted to buy the team back. “But that’s just not the game anymore.

“A bunch of people had contacted me. They weren’t happy with the way things were, and I was like, ‘Look, if you can get them to sell, I’ll be more than happy to contribute my equity etc. and help.’

“But I didn’t expect that to materialize. I told them that I didn’t think it would happen, that I didn’t think the Adelsons had any interest in selling. And, they don’t.”