Mark Cuban admits he 'put up the money' for Indiana to sign Fernando Mendoza

As Jeremiyah Love raced 98 yards through the freezing cold that blanketed Notre Dame Stadium, the future of Indiana football was about to take its first step.

Mark Cuban, billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks minority owner, sat in a luxury suite with IU president Pamela Whitten, athletic director Scott Dolson and several other high-ranking boosters and university personnel. There, Cuban would agree to foot the bill for a quarterback that Curt Cignetti’s program had its eyes on.

That, of course, would be Fernando Mendoza. Now a Heisman Trophy winner, No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick, but most importantly, national champion for Indiana. But on Dec. 20, 2024, he was just an idea, a hope for the Hoosiers without confirmation that they would be able to afford the transfer out of Cal.

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“[Dolson]’s like, we’ve got this quarterback that we really, really like that we think would be great in Cig’s system, we just need a little bit more,” Cuban said in an interview with Front Office Sports.

He added, “I’m like, ‘How much is a little bit?’ And so he told me, and I’m like, ‘OK, you know, we’re on a roll, I’ll put up the money to get this quarterback.’”

At the time, Indiana was getting blasted by the Fighting Irish in the first round of the College Football Playoff — a game that still stands as the last defeat taken by Indiana football. There, Cuban knew that in order to take the next step, there had to be an increased investment in Cignetti’s team, and Cuban had the funds to do exactly that.

As is consistent with funding in college sports across the board, the exact figures are unknown, but ahead of the season, Mendoza projected as a $2-3 million acquisition.

He hadn’t invested in Indiana athletics before he bankrolled Mendoza’s transfer, but with the momentum that the 2024 team had displayed, Cuban felt like it was the right time and place to start supporting his alma mater’s football program.

Cuban was also familiar with the Mendoza family, specifically Alberto — backup quarterback for the Hoosiers and a massive reason why Fernando decided to take his talents to Bloomington after three years in Berkeley.

“I knew [Alberto], who was already on the team, was a Heat fan, and he would sit behind the Miami bench, and when I would come to go to Mavs-Heat games, he was like, ‘Oh yeah, I go to IU and da da da,’” Cuban mentioned to FOS. “So we met. And so I’m like, ‘OK, I’ll put up the money, and we can go get Fernando,’ and the rest is history.”

With his confidence in Cignetti, and familiarity with the Mendozas, Cuban cut his first-ever check to Indiana football — and it certainly paid off in a major way. Since, he’s been seen at the Peach Bowl and national championship on the field cheering on his Hoosiers, but also discussing that he “couldn’t be happier” with his investment in the program.

Cuban’s contributions didn’t stop with Mendoza either. During Indiana’s run to the CFP national title, he admitted that his donations to Cignetti’s team have grown. “Let’s just say they are happier this year than last year,” he said of the increase in NIL money given ahead of the 2026 season.

But when it comes to where the money goes, that’s not something that Cuban requests control over. He leaves that to Dolson, Cignetti and the rest of IU football leadership that scouts the talent and then decides where to allocate the funds.

“I just give Scott money, and it’s up to him,” Cuban told FOS. “We talk a lot, we talk about approach, understanding how to put together a team. Because I did it for 20-something years. So it’s not like I have to direct him to something specific. I understand how they’re approaching things.”

When Cignetti stepped on campus back in 2023, he knew that the proper investment into football would lead to success. The head coach made a point to rally the fanbase, but also get IU administration involved to gather the money in order to secure the players he felt aligned with his program’s vision, but also possessed top talent.

The Hoosiers’ 2025 championship roster wasn’t close to some of the figures that folks have thrown out there, but what is the case is the fact that it took specific funding in order to secure Fernando Mendoza.

Dolson’s Shark Tank pitch wasn’t as cinematic as some of the business owners in the show, but he did have to get Cuban on board to receive the funding he needed to move forward with the quarterback IU felt could lead them to the promised land.

Perched above the stands on a snowy night in South Bend, an agreement was reached, and like Cuban said, the rest really was history.

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