The NBA is expected to select Las Vegas’ winning bid for an expansion franchise in the “near future,” according to ESPN. The combined price of the team and the yet-to-be-built arena is expected to be “at least” $12-13 billion, though it’s unclear how much of that figure would cover just the franchise bid itself.
There are three final groups in the Las Vegas franchise race, per ESPN:
- Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie. Walton is the heir to Walmart, and Walton’s cousin, Robert, is the owner of the Denver NFL Broncos. Bill Laurie is the former owner of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues.
- Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry. Lasry was once the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, but sold his share to Jimmy Haslam, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, at a valuation of 3.5 billion. His involvement is notable because he was a former NBA captain, as the Bucks have a unique ownership structure in which ownership is divided between two presidents, with Benedict Edens holding the other position.
- Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo. Foley is the major owner of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, while Colangelo is a familiar name to NBA fans. Colangelo, like Lasry, is a former NBA official. He was initially hired as general manager of the Phoenix Suns in 1968 before a group of investors purchased the team in 1987. He won the NBA Executive of the Year award four times, and his son Bryan won it twice. However, the two Philadelphia 76ers resigned in 2018 after reports of Ringer reporting that Twitter accounts created by Bryan’s wife, Barbara Bottini, leaked sensitive information related to the team and criticized some of the players. The senior Colangelo is president of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and former director of administration for USA Basketball.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly said he hopes to have the expansion deal settled by the end of the year, with Las Vegas and Seattle confirming in March that the two cities the league will explore new franchises. ESPN announced in March that the NBA hopes expansion teams will begin play in the 2028-29 season.
Las Vegas has never had an NBA franchise, but is home to the WNBA (Las Vegas Aces), NFL (Las Vegas Raiders) and NHL franchises with an MLB (Athletics) franchise on the way. The city has long been the host of the NBA Summer League and also hosted the All Star Game in 2007.
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. With news reportedly coming soon, the league appears poised to add its first new franchise with the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004.
What is this Seattle?
Las Vegas is expected to be approved first, but Seattle does not want to be approved later. The first two reasons for that. The first bidding process is more robust in Las Vegas. For now, the only known name in Seattle is Samantha Holloway, owner of the Seattle NHL Kraken. By first establishing Las Vegas at prices that fail in Vegas, they were able to shift their focus to Seattle.
The second material is sand. Seattle already has Climate Pledge Arena ready for an NBA franchise, Silver said earlier this month, while Las Vegas is expected to need a new arena.
“There hasn’t been as much discussion around Seattle as around Las Vegas because with Las Vegas, it’s not even clear what the site will be, let alone the arena yet. So it’s a much longer timeline before we can throw the ball for NBA basketball.” Silver said this month in New York, following the plans of the chiefs of the confederate meetings. “In Seattle, we had to complete circles for the Climate Pledge [Arena]. You clearly have a position in the art arena there. It may require some modifications for NBA basketball, but if we were to open, you know, we’re ready in five weeks in Seattle. So, because we can only take so much at once, there’s more discussion about Las Vegas.”
What are the arena options in Las Vegas?
Renovating T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights, is among the options for the new team, Silver said, but it would require renovations.
“I think the real movement around the arena is renewed T-Mobile,” Silver said. “I think everyone agrees that if the team stays there, it still needs some significant improvements. But at the same time there are groups that have contributed plans to build what I would say, you know, today’s entertainment palace in Las Vegas. And that’s the only market where you could really see, you know, activity essentially 365 days a year.”
The NBA could potentially use T-Mobile Arena or another venue as a stopgap home while the new arena is being built. An example is this, most recently with the Toronto Raptors playing in the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) for the first three seasons before moving to the Air Canada Centre, now the Scotiabank Arena.