DALLAS (AP) -- The Belo Corp. media group has sued Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, contending he reneged on an agreement to buy the company's minority stake in the team and the American Airlines Center. Belo, whose media holdings include The Dallas Morning News, bought a 12 percent stake in the NBA team for $24 million in July 1999, when real estate developer Ross Perot Jr. was the team's majority owner. ''We are reluctant plaintiffs in this dispute and are disappointed that we have to resort to litigation to enforce Belo's contractual rights,'' senior executive vice president Michael McCarthy said. ''Nonetheless, we intend to receive the consideration Belo is entitled to under our agreement with Mr. Cuban.'' The purchase included a 6 percent interest in the downtown arena being built for the Mavericks and NHL Dallas Stars. In January, Cuban bought a majority interest in the Mavericks from Perot in a transaction that valued the team at $280 million. The Belo stake increased in value to $34.7 million. The lawsuit states that as part of the deal Belo had a right to sell its stake to Cuban on the same terms as Perot. The company negotiated a deal with Cuban to maintain the option to sell until July, according to documents. Belo said it intended to sell its Mavericks holding along with other assets in June. Cuban's lawyer sent drafts of closing documents in July, the company contends. Cuban soon began complaining about the News' coverage of the Mavericks, according to Belo. Cuban said he decided to end negotiations with Belo over the sale after the newspaper did not run a story on the day of an exhibition game with the Miami Heat in October. There was no signed contract because the two sides were unable to reach an agreement, he added. ''The reason we were unable to reach an agreement was because I had made it clear to Belo management that I was only going to sign the agreement once Belo demonstrated to me that they were able to consistently keep up their end of the deal, which was ongoing editorial coverage of the Dallas Mavericks in The Dallas Morning News,'' he said. ------------------ Only in America....do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
