Mark Cuban always speaks his mind, especially when it comes to the NFL.
The Dallas Mavericks’ outspoken owner went on ESPN and critiqued the NFL’s business model, mainly the Oakland Raiders’ move to Las Vegas, saying it will be a bad move for the league.
“Why? There’s just no good reason,” Cuban said, as transcribed by ProFootballTalk’s Michael David Smith. “It’s no disrespect to Las Vegas, it’s a great city and it’s vibrant. But they’re going to a smaller market, it’s transient, and it’s just another example of chasing every last dollar, and that tends to backfire.”
Cuban also famously said the NFL “would go bankrupt in 10 years,” back in 2014.
This, of course, isn’t just a vendetta against the NFL, as Cuban also was one of two NBA owners to vote against the Seattle Supersonics moving to Oklahoma City in 2008.
“It had nothing to do with Oklahoma City, Tulsa or the area here,” Cuban said in 2009, per NewsOK.com’s Darnell Mayberry. “It’s a great area. It wasn’t a reflection of what I thought of the area here. It’s just size.
“In a business where 100,000 viewers can make a difference between your television partners having great ratings or not having great ratings, losing a team in a larger market to me is a challenge. That’s really what it came down to.”
Only time will tell if Cuban is right, but unless the Raiders’ new stadium in Las Vegas is empty, we think the NFL will be just fine.
Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
