Winning: Mark Cuban

In my second entry on 'Winning,' I shift my focus from the NFL to the NBA.  Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is clearly winning.  Cuban started off small in 1982, working as a bartender in Dallas and then as a salesman at a software company.  Mark then proceeded to start his own company, MicroSolutions, with the support of previous customers from his work as a salesman.  By 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions for $6 million, personally retaining $2 million in the sale.  Cuban continued his entrepreneurial ways by starting Audionet with a partner, combining their interest in college basketball and webcasting.  This company becaome Broadcast.com, and by 1999 was earning $13.5 million in revenue.  Taking advantage of the dot com boom, Cuban allowed Broadcast.net to be acquired by Yahoo for $5.9 billion and diversified his assets to secure his wealth.

As the current owner of the Mavericks, whom he purchased in January 2000, Cuban changed the culture around the fans and the atmosphere in the arena.  Once he became the owner, Cuban did not upgrade his previous seats to luxurious box seats, instead choosing to cheer next to his common fans.  Cuban also encouraged fans to email him with questions and complaints about the team, and introduced a three-sided shot clock, which allows anyone from the arena to see it!  Since Cuban took over the Mavericks, they have made the playoffs in all ten seasons, including a trip to the NBA Finals in 2006 where they lost 4-2 to the Miami Heat.  Despite his strong fervor for his team, Cuban has been fined over $1.3 million dollars for bad behavior by the league!  However, for every $ he is fined he donates an equivalent amount to charity.

In addition to the success of the Mavericks, Cuban has attempted to buy several other professional sports teams, most notably the Texas Rangers and the Chicago Cubs.  Cuban submitted a bid of $1.3 billion to the Cubs in July 2008, yet was not invited to participate in the final bidding process in July 2009.  More recently Cuban bid to purchase his in-state Texas Rangers.  He managed to outbid a group led by Nolan Ryan, with a bid of nearly $600 million dollars, yet lost his deal to Ryan's group. 

Besides his business ventures, Cuban has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, and in various films and tv shows, most notably Entourage this past season.  His rash attitude and indifference to other's opinion makes him a polarizing, yet quite interesting figure.  Why else is Mark Cuban winning? He has lashed out against the current BCS system here, and vigorously campaigns for a new system.  He also appeared with Charlie Sheen on Jimmy Kimmel several weeks ago, and is trying to start a reality TV show with the former 'Two and a Half Men' star on his HDNet channel in addition to potentially broadcasting some of his tour on HDNet.  If that's not winning then I don't know what is!