The NBA next week is set to take the next step in Las Vegas being awarded an expansion franchise.
The NBA board of governors will discuss and vote on beginning the exploration of Las Vegas and Seattle as potential expansion markets, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Review-Journal on Monday.
The approval to pursue expansion would require 23 of the 30 NBA governors (ownership) of voting in favor of the move at the NBA meetings scheduled for March 24-25 in New York.
Should that prove to be a successful vote in favor of exploring expansion, the NBA would then begin to meet with ownership groups who have interest in netting an expansion franchise in Las Vegas and Seattle. The two teams could begin playing as early as the 2028-29 seasons.
The NBA could vote on approving adding Las Vegas and Seattle and their respective ownership groups as soon as July, at the league’s board of governors meeting in Las Vegas. If not then, there’s a board of governors meeting that occurs in fall of each year, as well.
Expansion fee
Once the NBA determines the groups to award expansion franchises to, they will have to pay an expansion fee of between $7 billion and $10 billion, according to reports. That would be valued higher than the average NBA team, as CNBC reported in February that the average NBA franchise is worth $5.52 billion.
The league has three franchises are worth more than $10 billion: the Golden State Warriors ($10.8 billion), the New York Knicks ($10.1 billion) and the Los Angeles Lakers ($10 billion).
The revenue shared by the 30 NBA teams would then be split up by 32, if Las Vegas and Seattle both add teams. The up to $20 billion that would be generated by the expansion fees would be divvied up between the 30 existing teams, which would offset the majority of the money team owners will miss out on when the revenue share moves from 1/30 to 1/32.
Interested groups
There are three groups that have interested in owning a Las Vegas NBA franchise, with the MAGI, lead by NBA hall of famer turned business mogul Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Fenway Sports Group, which would include NBA superstar LeBron James and a group that includes Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley.
Only the MAGI have noted publicly that they are actively involved in NBA expansion talks, with Johnson having met with Gov. Joe Lombardo last month. Lombardo also held a zoom call with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver last week, discussing expansion.
James has stated in multiple news conferences over the past few years that he aspires to be part of a Las Vegas NBA expansion team’s ownership.
Foley told Vegas PBS in February that he is interested in owning an NBA team.
Where would they play?
Part of the discussions with potential ownership groups will be where the teams would play their home games in both markets.
Seattle would add the team to Climate Pledge Arena, where the former Seattle SuperSonics played at when it was named KeyAren. Since the Sonics relocated and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, the arena underwent over $1 billion in renovations, completed in 2021.
Las Vegas’ team has one current available option to play NBA games: T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights play their NHL home games.
If T-Mobile Arena was chosen as the home arena for an NBA team, it would need to go through hundreds of millions in renovations, something that Foley has previously stated he would be interested in doing, should he be part of an NBA expansion team ownership group.
Other groups, such as Oak View Group and LVXP, have both announced NBA arena plans, but no developments on either project have occurred in recent times.
The next steps
The league would likely have an expansion draft in June or July 2028 to build the rosters of the incoming franchises. Las Vegas and Seattle would be able to draft players that aren’t protected from the other 30 NBA teams.
The two teams would also have first-round picks in the 2028 NBA Draft prior to their first year in the league.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
