Mavericks could be sold any day now, but to whom?

By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer

DALLAS (AP) - The Dallas Mavericks could have a new owner any day. The question is, who will it be?

It could be Ross Perot Jr., son of the former presidential candidate and the runner-up in bidding to buy the Dallas Stars. The Stars and Mavericks are looking for somewhere to build a new arena and you-know-who's son has more than 20,000 acres.

It also could be Tom Hicks, the dealmaker extraordinaire who recently bought the Stars. As the owner of both teams, he could put them in whatever arena he wants, wherever he wants.

"I'd say it's 1A and 1B," a source close to the negotiations told The Dallas Morning News. "(Perot) is the front-runner because he has been working on this a lot longer. But Tom probably needs the team more."

Neither Hicks nor Perot immediately returned calls Friday to The Associated Press. Mavericks officials also could not immediately be reached.

Don't completely count out media magnate Edward Gaylord, whose attempted purchase of the Texas Rangers was blocked by major league baseball less than a decade ago. His Gaylord Entertainment owns a local television station, TNN-The Nashville Network, Country Music Television and the Grand Ole Opry.

There also could be a few dark-horse contenders. Just last week, a team official said there were as many as six serious bidders. Several of those probably weren't taken seriously because owner Donald Carter refuses to sell to anyone who'd consider moving the team out of Dallas-Fort Worth.

Carter paid only $12 million when the league gave him the expansion franchise in 1979. Sixteen seasons later, he's mulling between bids of $115 million to $125 million.

Carter, whose fondness for wearing a cowboy hat inspired the team's logo, doesn't plan to totally divulge himself. He wants to remain a minority owner, keeping anywhere from 10 to 30 percent.

He's also spoke of opening up ownership to fans by selling as much as 20 percent of the team to the public through a stock offering, although that's not likely to occur until the arena issue is settled.

There was speculation that Carter was ready to give up his courtside seats because he was unhappy with the team's direction. Despite huge contracts for Jim Jackson, Jason Kidd and Jamal Mashburn, the team is missing the playoffs for the sixth straight year. Also, the three Js have had some petty, highly publicized spats.

But the latest word is that Carter wants to bail out because of the new arena, which will be jointly owned with the Stars. Apparently, Carter, a devout Baptist, doesn't want to own a facility where alcohol will be sold. Reunion Arena, where the teams currently play, is owned by the city.

The arena issue has been bouncing around for more than a year. Several suburbs made pitches to lure the teams, but Carter promised Dallas the first chance. Slight progress was made in recent weeks, which may have been when the alcohol issue clicked - or reached a boiling point - with Carter. He has declined comment on the issue.