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NBA Expected to Soon Name Owner for Las Vegas Expansion Team
Confirmed
In Short: Renovating T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights, is among the options for the new team, but it would require significant renovations. The combined price of the team and an arena is expected to be 'at least' $12-13 billion.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has stated that he hopes to have the expansion matter settled by the end of the year, with Las Vegas and Seattle approved in March as the two cities the league would explore for new franchises.
Silver noted that Seattle already has Climate Pledge Arena ready for an NBA franchise, while Las Vegas would need a new arena. Las Vegas has never had an NBA franchise, but is home to WNBA, NFL, and NHL franchises, with an MLB franchise on the way.
Renovating T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights, is among the options for the new team, but it would require significant renovations. The combined price of the team and an arena is expected to be 'at least' $12-13 billion.
The NBA has been moving toward a final vote on expanding by two teams to 32 since March, when its Board of Governors approved exploring expansion teams specifically in Seattle and Las Vegas.
Seattle, which was home to the SuperSonics from 1967 to 2008, has a clear frontrunner for a Seattle ownership group in One Roof Sports and Entertainment, headed by Seattle Kraken chair Samantha Holloway.
The NBA continues to target as soon as the 2028-29 season to add expansion teams to the league. With news reportedly coming soon, the league appears poised to add its first new franchise since the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004.
Las Vegas is expected to be approved first, but that doesn't mean Seattle won't be approved later. A more robust bidding process in Las Vegas and a clearer frontrunner in Seattle could shift focus.
By settling Las Vegas first, bidders who miss out on Vegas could shift their focus to Seattle, where there is less to figure out logistically.
The NBA's decision is expected to have a significant impact on both cities, with Las Vegas potentially needing a new arena and Seattle already having a venue ready to go.
Background
Las Vegas, colloquially shortened to Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. It is the 24th-most populous city in the United States, with 641,903 residents at the 2020 census.
What's confirmed
- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has stated that he hopes to have the expansion matter settled by the end of the year, with Las Vegas and Seattle approved in March as the two cities the league would explore for new franchises.
- Silver noted that Seattle already has Climate Pledge Arena ready for an NBA franchise, while Las Vegas would need a new arena. Las Vegas has never had an NBA franchise, but is home to WNBA, NFL, and NHL franchises, with an MLB franchise on the way.
- Renovating T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights, is among the options for the new team, but it would require significant renovations. The combined price of the team and an arena is expected to be 'at least' $12-13 billion.
- The NBA has been moving toward a final vote on expanding by two teams to 32 since March, when its Board of Governors approved exploring expansion teams specifically in Seattle and Las Vegas.
- Seattle, which was home to the SuperSonics from 1967 to 2008, has a clear frontrunner for a Seattle ownership group in One Roof Sports and Entertainment, headed by Seattle Kraken chair Samantha Holloway.
- The NBA continues to target as soon as the 2028-29 season to add expansion teams to the league. With news reportedly coming soon, the league appears poised to add its first new franchise since the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004.
- Las Vegas is expected to be approved first, but that doesn't mean Seattle won't be approved later. A more robust bidding process in Las Vegas and a clearer frontrunner in Seattle could shift focus.
- By settling Las Vegas first, bidders who miss out on Vegas could shift their focus to Seattle, where there is less to figure out logistically.
- The NBA's decision is expected to have a significant impact on both cities, with Las Vegas potentially needing a new arena and Seattle already having a venue ready to go.
What's still developing
- The NBA is expected to select a winning bidder for a Las Vegas expansion franchise in the "very near future," according to ESPN.
- ESPN reported in March that the NBA would hope to have expansion teams begin play in the 2028-29 season.
- "There was not as much discussion around Seattle as there was around Las Vegas because with Las Vegas, it's not even clear what the site will be, let alone the arena yet. Therefore, it's a much longer timeline before we can throw the ball up for NBA basketball," Silver said following the league's board of governors meetings this month in New York.
- Seattle, of course, was home to the SuperSonics from 1967 to 2008, before the franchise was sold and moved to Oklahoma City as the Thunder.
- For now, the only known bidder in Seattle is Samantha Holloway, owner of the NHL's Seattle Kraken.
- A native of Ephrata, Wash., he joined the Seattle Sports and MyNorthwest.com team in 2013 after six years as a sports reporter for The Wenatchee World.
- ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania had a new report on the NBA expansion process that could result in a Seattle Sonics expansion team being awarded by the end of the year.
- If you’re looking for a good sign about progress being made toward a Seattle Sonics NBA expansion team, a new report from ESPN might have one.
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