During the Bud Light boycott last Pride season, many corporate execs shied away from opining on the polarizing topic. But not Mark Cuban. The Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank host didn’t just defend Bud Light’s decision to partner with Dylan Mulvaney.

He said it was smart business for companies to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community, and pushed back against the prevailing narrative that Bud Light was harmed. During a time when many corporate execs stay silent about polarizing issues, Cuban’s candor is laudable.

The frenetic entrepreneur promises to be in the news over the next week, with the Mavericks taking on the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals (the series tips off Thursday). Though Cuban sold his majority stake in the Macs last year, he still owns 27% of the club and controls basketball operations.

A pioneer in the streaming space, Cuban purchased the Mavericks in 2000. Over the ensuing decades, he’s become one of most influential voices in sports, rejecting tradition along the way. Rather than lounge in the owner’s box, Cuban sits court side, yelling at officials in his trademark t-shirt and jeans.

Even in the NBA, many owners skew conservative. Though nearly every team hosts an annual Pride night, outspoken support for the LGBTQ+ community among owners is less ubiquitous. We saw that last year, when multiple clubs in the NHL and MLB capitulated to a small minority of homophobic forces and players and augmented their Pride celebrations.

Cuban is the exception. He’s been a long-time backer of the LGBTQ+ community, speaking out in support of gay marriage years before it became federal law. In the wake of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, Cuban donated $1 million to the Dallas police to increase patrols in LGBTQ+ neighborhoods.

He’s also worked with advocacy organizations to eradicate LGBTQ+ discrimination in Texas.

With an estimated net worth of $5.4 billion, it’s fair to say that Cuban knows how to make a buck or two. Amidst all of the hyperbolic outcry last Pride season, he stayed reasonable.

The angel investor forcefully defended Bud Light, Target and other companies that try to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community.

“There is a reason almost all the top 10 market cap companies in the U.S. can be considered ‘woke.’ It’s good business,” he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

It only took a few months for the right’s performative Bud Light boycott to fall apart. Kid Rock, one of the leaders of the empty movement, was caught selling the beer at his bar… and drinking it himself!

By the end of last year, Bud Light’s stock was soaring. Anheuser-Busch closed 2023 with a higher share price than at the height of the controversy.

As of late December, Anheuser-Busch stock was up 5.35% year to date. All of the right-wing caterwauling over an Instagram ad amounted to nothing.

Imagine that!

Related*

The Los Angeles Dodgers experienced a similar phenomenon in MLB. When they honored the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at their Pride Night, conservatives were outraged. Opportunists such as Marco Rubio and Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis claimed the Dodgers’ invitation would result in irreparable harm.

They became so desperate, they even lied about the team’s (stellar) Pride Night attendance.

As it turns out, the Dodgers led MLB in attendance for the 10th consecutive year, and the numbers weren’t close. They averaged 47,371 fans per game, which was 6,000 more than the second-place New York Yankees. Los Angeles was also the third-biggest draw for a road team, behind the Yankees and Chicago Cubs.

Though the Dodgers originally disinvited the Sisters, they quickly corrected their mistake. They learned the best strategy is to wait out the noise.

Cuban believes that’s the only way.

“Most CEOs have enough experience to know to just wait out the news cycle until they go to the next one,” he said.

And in this news cycle, the Mavericks are back in the Finals for the first time since 2011. The matchup is perfect for LGBTQ+ sports fans, as both clubs have a strong record of allyship.

They both host Pride Nights, and the Celtics have had at least two out gay cheerleaders in recent years: Patrick Opran and Anthony Nicolo. Jason Collins, the only out active player in NBA history, also briefly played for them.

While every pro sports team in Boston supports queer folx, the same can’t be said for Dallas. The Texas Rangers are the only club in MLB that doesn’t host a Pride Night. (The Dallas Cowboys, interestingly, have a long and fascinating gay history…)

But Cuban is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Rangers’ ownership. If a team from Texas is going to contend for a championship, we’re picking the Mavericks every single time.

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