Over the past 25 years, I’ve exchanged emails with Mark Cuban about various topics. We’re the same age, so I feel that I can ask him questions about Seinfeld, Sharknado, Dennis Rodman, or digital topics and get a worthy response.
Last month, the always-interesting Cuban did something, uh, interesting: He bought a Texas town. Specifically, Cuban bought Mustang, a Navarro County town at the junction of Interstate 45 and FM 739 near Corsicana. The 77-acre settlement was purchased by a company controlled by Cuban, according to county records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
“I don’t know what if anything I will do with it,” Cuban told the DMN‘s Steve Brown in an email.
According to Census records, Mustang has a population of 23 people. It was incorporated in 1973 and was offered for sale at one time, but the property never sold. For a town that peaked at 47 people, it has a Wild West-like history full of mayhem and political intrigue that’s summed up in the town’s Wikipedia history entry.
I believe I know what happened here. Cuban is likely a fan of Schitt’s Creek, the Canadian sitcom that ran for 80 episodes over six seasons from 2015 to 2020 and gained acclaim on Netflix. The show’s plot: A wealthy family’s business manager defrauds the family and they are forced to relocate to Schitt’s Creek, a small town they once purchased as a joke.
Cuban’s purchase is almost like life imitating TV. But unless something terrible happens to the Dallas Mavericks basketball franchise or Cuban makes a bad investment on NBC’s Shark Tank and he loses his billions, it’s doubtful Cuban will move to a Mustang motel (if it had one) to start over.
The town has a Mavericks connection. It previously belonged to attorney Marty Price, a friend of Cuban’s and a Mavericks fan with floor seats. Price died in August.
“Mark Cuban stepped up, and it was natural for him to buy it,” Mike Turner, president of Dallas real estate firm J. Elmer Turner told NBC News. “With his resources and imagination, I’m sure there are endless possibilities.”
Turner is right. If anyone can make anything of the place, Cuban can.
