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NBA owners to research expansion: Where does Las Vegas stand?

Updated July 16, 2025 - 11:08 am

The NBA board of governors asked the league office to carry out an in-depth analysis on the possibility of expansion during a meeting in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The meeting marked the first time the NBA’s owners officially discussed the topic after years of speculation that the league could expand from its current 30 franchises. Las Vegas and Seattle are considered two of the top candidates for a potential expansion franchise.

The analysis will study the potential economic impacts of expansion and the effects it would have on the NBA’s talent pool and level of competition, commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday during a news conference at the NBA Summer League.

Silver noted nothing is predetermined and there is no timeline for the league office to finish its analysis, adding Tuesday’s move was just a first step.

“The next step is looking at specific markets, understanding what the opportunities in those markets are,” Silver said. “Understanding the facilities that are available to us to play in. Understanding the interest from local businesses and understanding the overall appetite in those markets that are expressing interest to us.”

The league has two committees — the advisory finance committee and the audit and strategy committee — made up of owners from select NBA teams that will tackle the process.

“Those two committees together probably represent roughly half of the principal governors in this league,” Silver said. “We have the focus and attention of our board members on this issue.”

Las Vegas groups

If the league decides to expand, multiple groups are ready to bid to bring a team to Las Vegas, according to Steve Hill, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president and CEO.

“We’ve got at least three groups here that are very qualified and capable of bringing an NBA franchise to the city,” Hill said, without naming those groups. “There’s no better place to bring the next franchise in the NBA but here. It’s been a basketball city forever, huge NBA following, and obviously we’ve got a great relationship (with the NBA) already. Folks have spoken publicly about wanting to bring this franchise (here). I think we’ll be well-represented in those conversations.”

Some of the people Hill alluded to include NBA star LeBron James, Hall of Famer and part-time Las Vegas resident Shaquille O’Neal and boxing great Floyd Mayweather.

Silver pointed out Tuesday the league already has a great relationship with Las Vegas.

“I feel like we already have the 31st franchise here,” Silver said. “We own essentially two weeks of the calendar here (with the NBA Summer League). We are a regular fixture and we’ll be coming back for the NBA Cup. It feels like we do have an enormous presence here in Las Vegas.”

Potential arenas

Multiple groups are interested in building NBA-ready arenas in Las Vegas, including Denver-based venue development, management and hospitality firm Oak View Group and Las Vegas-based real estate firm LVXP.

Oak View has a long history of developing and operating arenas and stadiums worldwide, including Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, home of the NHL’s Kraken, where a potential Seattle NBA team would play.

Oak View’s plans to build a $1 billion arena just south of the Strip were pulled last year. The group hasn’t publicly commented on where it plans to shift its attention, but early indications were that land next to the Rio was a possibility.

Oak View’s longtime CEO, Tim Leiweke, recently stepped down from his executive role and transitioned to the company’s board of directors after being indicted on bid-rigging charges. It’s unclear how Leiweke’s role change could impact Oak View’s NBA arena plans in Las Vegas.

LVXP is looking to build an NBA-ready arena on the site of the former Wet N’ Wild, where Jackie Robinson’s All Net Arena project failed to come to fruition.

Plans call for a 20,000-seat arena with a 2,600-room hotel/condominium project and a 6,000-seat theater surrounding the facility. LVXP hired AECOM last year to design the arena, but there have been few public developments since.

Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has also previously expressed interest in potentially acquiring an NBA expansion team to Vegas PBS. He could upgrade T-Mobile Arena if that were to occur.

Silver said the league will be careful in how it approaches the expansion process with its analysis just beginning.

“I wish standing here as the commissioner that I had lots of teams to dispense to many different markets who are interested in NBA basketball,” Silver said. “We also have this greater obligation to expand, if we do so, in a very deliberate fashion, in a way that makes sense holistically for the league.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.

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