Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has stepped in to save the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dallas which was canceled due to lack of funds. However, his reason for saving it may prove controversial with Irish groups.
“I just thought it was fair that more people should be able to kill as many brain cells on Greenville Avenue as I have in my life," Cuban said.
“I passed out in many of the booths there.
“I said if I have lost enough brain cells there everybody will get that opportunity, too."
Cuban, who is Jewish, is a billionaire. In addition to the Mavericks, Cuban owns Landmark Theatres and Magnolia pictures and is Chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNET and an investor in the television series ‘Shark Tank.’
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He was ranked 459th richest in the world by Forbes magazine in their annual list, with a wealth of over $2 billion and is married with two daughters and a son.
Cuban stated parade officials will allow him to promote one of his companies, filesanywhere.com during the parade but he would not disclose how much money he had pumped in.
The parade had become a victim of its own success as organizers do not have the funds to pay for extra security for the 100,000 crowd who assemble at the Greenville Avenue location.
Organizers had given a deadline of February 17th to come up with the full amount of $100,000 to cover the entire cost of the parade, most of it for added security.
They had written to every business on the route and asked for $1,000 donation from each one to save the parade.
One of the key organizers Jake Levy, of Desperado's restaurant, a member of the committee, said that increased crowds have greatly added to the cost of the event.
"It's the biggest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the South," he said. "We rival New York, Boston, Chicago," he told the Dallas Observer.
The extra money pays for police, barricades and trash pickup he stated.
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