The National Basketball Association and its board of governors will hold a preliminary vote in New York 24-25 March to bring an expansion franchise to Las Vegas, according to an ESPN report on Monday.
Las Vegas is one of two expansion sites expected to be considered, alongside Seattle. Each team is expected to fetch between $7 billion and $10 billion, per the report. Both franchises are expected to instantly land among the top eight markets by revenue generation, industry executives told ESPN.
Next week’s vote would cement the two cities as relocation possibilities, which would then open a bidding process. A final vote later in the year would officially expand the league from 30 to 32 teams, with the goal of having the expansion franchises ready to play for the 2028-29 season. While a Las Vegas franchise may have garnered significant controversy two decades ago before the expansion of legal sports wagering, 40 US states now offer the activity.
The bar for passage is high, as 23 of 30 existing team owners must vote in favour of both rounds. Theoretically, owners could reject the expansion in efforts to retain equity. Teams currently split league revenue among 30 teams, and there is uncertainty about whether the added revenue from Las Vegas and Seattle would compensate for the dilution of dividing among 32.
That said, Las Vegas has been pencilled in as an NBA expansion site for several years, and the explosive growth of the market post-Covid has only continued to fuel those rumours.
NBA commissioner, Nevada governor met this month
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver met with Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo to discuss league expansion to Las Vegas earlier this month. Silver reportedly told Lombardo that the league was looking to add two franchises and that Las Vegas and Seattle were the preferred destinations.
In terms of bidding interest, there is no shortage of entities that might vie for a Las Vegas franchise. Sports franchises, especially in the NBA, have become some of the nation’s most attractive investments in recent years.
Prior to 2025, the record for an NBA team valuation came in 2022, when the Phoenix Suns sold for $4 billion. Then last year, that record was broken three times: the Portland Trail Blazers sold for $4.25 billion, the Boston Celtics sold for $6.1 billion and the Los Angeles Lakers sold for $10 billion.
Bringing the Magic to Vegas?
One potential bidder has already been confirmed, as NBA Hall of Famer and investor Magic Johnson met with Lombardo in February, per the Review-Journal. Johnson is heading a group known as MAGI which includes Las Vegas investors. There are a number of existing ownership stakes in Johnson’s business portfolio, Magic Johnson Enterprises, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Sparks and more.
In a statement, Johnson called Las Vegas his “favourite home away from home”, adding that he “can’t think of a better place” to expand. Lombardo, in his own statement, said his administration “welcomes all conversations about bringing more professional sports teams to our state”.
Sin City has in the last decade become arguably the fastest-growing pro sports market in the US – the Golden Knights (NHL), Aces (WNBA) and Raiders (NFL) have all debuted in that timeframe, and the Oakland Athletics (MLB) are building a new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip with plans to debut in 2028. Additionally, the city now hosts an annual Formula 1 Grand Prix race and other key events like the Super Bowl and March Madness.
Biggest potential buyer already a team owner
Ironically, one of the most likely buyers of a Las Vegas franchise has already entered the league elsewhere. The Adelson family, of Las Vegas Sands fame, purchased a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks in 2023 at a valuation north of $4 billion. Current Sands President Patrick Dumont serves as governor of the team.
The purchase of the Mavericks has appeared to be part of a broader push for casino legalisation in Texas. Sands last year proposed a new development in Irving, outside of Dallas, that included a new arena for the Mavericks and a casino-resort.
The project received initial sign-off but Sands ultimately withdrew the casino element in response to immense backlash. Sands’ casino lobbying efforts have also consistently come up short, and legalisation efforts appear no closer after several attempts. This has sparked speculation as to whether the Adelsons would sell the Mavericks in favour of a Las Vegas team, but that was dismissed earlier this year.
“The Dumont and Adelson families remain fully committed to the Dallas Mavericks franchise and to the Dallas community,” a spokesperson told the Dallas Morning News in February. “They remain focused on building a championship organisation for the long term. The team is not for sale and the families look forward to expanding their ownership stake over time.”
The T-Mobile conundrum
NBA expansion to Las Vegas has always been speculative, but there have been multiple arena proposals. The simplest option could be to renovate T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights and Aces currently play, but that is tricky for a few reasons.
The first issue is renovations and cost, as the venue does not currently meet NBA specifications. Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has an ownership stake in the arena and told PBS in 2024 he’d commit up to $300 million for NBA-spec renovations if he was included in the ownership group, but there are expected to be several competing bidders and arena options.
T-Mobile is also intertwined with MGM Resorts, which might be undesirable for an incoming group wishing to develop its own site. MGM owns a stake in the venue, and it is located in between the company’s New York-New York and Park MGM properties.
Multiple Las Vegas NBA arena projects over the years
Outside of T-Mobile, perhaps the most famous Las Vegas arena project was a failed one, the now-defunct All Net Arena development. The project was headed by former UNLV basketball player Jackie Robinson, who sought to develop an NBA-ready arena on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip at the site of the former Wet n’ Wild waterpark.
Construction stalled for several years and the project was eventually abandoned after the Clark County Commission refused to grant extensions for work permits in 2023. Robinson has since been hit with a racketeering lawsuit alleging misappropriation of investors’ funds.
After All Net was abandoned, developers LVXP swooped in and quickly took over the plot with their own arena development plans. LVXP won initial approval for a 2,600-unit hotel and condo project with a casino and an NBA-ready 18,000-seat arena in 2024, but there has been little action since.
Another effort by Oak View Group, the sports venue management specialists, also picked up and then lost steam in recent years. Oak View had proposed a multibillion-dollar resort-arena complex on a plot near Las Vegas Boulevard South and Blue Diamond Road, but that too was abandoned in 2024. Another unused plot near the Rio Hotel and Casino has also been the subject of speculation, but nothing has materialised.
Two key executives from the Oak View project have since left, which further dents future prospects. Former Oak View CEO Tim Leiweke stepped down last year after being indicted on conspiracy charges related to a fixed bidding process for the construction of The Moody Center at the University of Texas. The company also lost Marc Badain, who previously helped bring the Raiders to Las Vegas. Badain left Oak View to become president of the soon-to-be Las Vegas A’s baseball club.
Resorts World angling for arena?
Resorts World Las Vegas has also emerged as a surprising arena candidate in recent days thanks to comments from Carlos Castro, the casino’s president and CFO. Castro appeared for licensing last week before the Nevada Gaming Control Board and was asked about plans for the vacant land surrounding the property. He called the 46-acre space “a prime spot for an arena down the road”.
“With the other acreage, we’re looking at other attractions we can bring in to drive demand, not just to Resorts World but to the north end of the corridor,” Castro told the board. “An arena is the perfect place for Resorts World and the North Strip.”
Control Board member George Assad was wholeheartedly in agreement, saying an NBA team “would be fantastic for the north end of the Strip and for the entire city of Las Vegas”. An arena there “could also be used for concerts and other things as well”, he added. The casino is in the midst of a compliance overhaul after being fined $10.5 million last year for anti-money laundering violations.
“I hope Mr. Silver is listening and watching, and we definitely will support an NBA team,” Assad said.
Extensive history with NBA, sports investment
Overall, the addition of an NBA team in Las Vegas is a natural evolution in the city’s sports transformation. Sports have become arguably the largest non-gaming attraction in the region, and it couldn’t come at a better time.
According to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, total visitation in 2025 was 38.5 million, down 7.5% from 2024. This was driven mainly by a significant drop in international visitation, specifically from Canada and Mexico, as well as persistent macroeconomic headwinds for domestic patrons. The LVCVA’s visitor report from 2025 showed that spending on sporting events was up last year, but the number of visitors who attended a sporting event was lower than 2023 and 2022.
Proponents have pointed to the 2028 arrival of the A’s as being a significant growth driver. MLB teams host the most regular-season games of any major sport (81), while the NBA and NHL tie for second (41). Now that the NBA has begun its expansion process, that means both the A’s and the eventual basketball franchise would begin play in 2028 within months of each other.
Las Vegas already has an extensive relationship with the NBA, as the city hosts multiple league events every year. This includes both the in-season NBA Cup tournament finals and the NBA Summer League, where top prospects like Victor Wembanyama, Zion Williamson and Kevin Durant all made their professional debuts. Over the last two decades, the US men’s national basketball team has held its training camp in Las Vegas at UNLV.
At the NBA Cup final last December, Silver said it was “not a secret, we’re looking at this market in Las Vegas,” per the Las Vegas Sun.
Jess Marquez
Jess has covered the global gaming industry since 2022. A native of Reno, Nevada, he’d like to note that it’s Ne-va-da, not Ne-VAH-da.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/casino-games/las-vegas-nba-expansion-team/
