As expected, the NBA’s Board of Governors has voted in favor of formally exploring adding expansion franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Charania first reported last week that the Board of Governors would be conducting a vote during their March 24-25 meetings on whether to explore potential bids and applicants for teams in those two specific cities. The plan required the approval of at least 23 of the NBA’s 30 team governors and the expectation was that the vote would have no trouble passing.
As Charania notes (via Twitter), momentum has been building toward the NBA expanding to 32 teams, with multiple high-ranking officials around the league referring to it as a matter for “when, not if.”
While some team owners have been wary in the past of reducing their portion of league revenue, expansion fees for new franchises are expected to be in the range of $7-10 billion, per Charania, which would result in massive one-time payments for each current NBA ownership group.
The next step, Charania explains, is for the NBA to spend the next several months vetting the Seattle and Vegas markets and potential bidders in order to determine whether to move forward on expansion at this time or in a few years. If the league opts to move forward with expansion sooner rather than later, the two new teams would likely begin playing in 2028/29, with necessary steps like conference/division realignment and an expansion draft taking place ahead of that season.
Confirming Charania’s reporting, the NBA put out a statement (via Twitter) announcing that the league has hired investment bank PJT Partners as a strategic adviser to “evaluate prospective markets, ownership groups, arena infrastructure, and the broader economic implications of expansion.”
“Today’s vote reflects our Board’s interest in exploring potential expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle — two markets with a long history of support for NBA basketball,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “We look forward to taking this next step and engaging with interested parties.”
Seattle has been viewed as a possible expansion market ever since the SuperSonics were moved to Oklahoma City and rebranded as the Thunder in 2008. Seattle was part of the NBA for more than four decades and has a large group of loyal fans who still identify with the team.
The city already has a facility in place in Climate Pledge Arena, which was formerly known as Key Arena and serves as home to the NHL’s Kraken. It recently underwent a $1.15 billion renovation and can hold 18,300 fans for basketball. If an expansion team is approved for Seattle, the expectation is that it would reclaim the SuperSonics nickname, branding, and franchise history.
Las Vegas has never had an NBA franchise, but it has formed a strong partnership with the league by hosting Summer League games every July, as well as the semifinals and finals of the NBA Cup. T-Mobile Arena is the home of the NHL’s Golden Knights and hosts basketball games as well, with a capacity of 18,000 people.
While other cities – including Mexico City, Vancouver, Montreal, and Louisville, among others – have been occasionally cited as possible candidates for NBA expansion, Seattle and Vegas have long been considered the frontrunners in a scenario in which the league moves to a 32-team format.
The NBA last expanded in 2004, when Charlotte reentered the league as the Bobcats.
The world game has gotten so much better over the last 20 years, this will actually make sense. All the best overseas players will fill out these teams, easily.
I don’t understand this new media narrative trending now the league doesn’t have enough talent. It’s always been about the difficulty in acquiring talent if you are bad and small market. And it would be the same issue regardless if there were 2 more teams or not. It’s such a dumb new talking point.
I agree, its so dumb and not based in the larger, world reality. There’s literally dozens of pro leagues if not hundreds and almost all the MVPs from those leagues are currently playing at an NBA-level. Plus they are going to get like half their players from actual NBA teams, plus the draft, so its going to be the best of the best world MVPs. Not to mention werido holdouts who want more money and are willing to sit, they can grab them too…there’s plenty of talent.
I think this argument comes from NFL and MLB-focussed people, who disregard that the NBA is actually like 10x less jobs than those sports, for some reason (being dumb).
Why vegas? So far raiders been a disaster and the A’s have been no excitment for them. Just a way to get more gambling on games.
The A’s currently play in Sacramento plus have the 3rd best hitter in MLB behind Ohtani and Judge. LV will be buzzing when they start playing there. A’s have a decent team now btw
Raiders were a disaster in Oakland. They at least bring a crowd in LV as opponents fans don’t mind a day in Vegas. The same for when the A’s eventually arrive.