NEW YORK — NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday the league could be ready to play in Seattle within five weeks if it had to, after owners spent more of this week’s Board of Governors meetings on Las Vegas.
The board met Monday and Tuesday in New York. Silver said the goal is still to have expansion decisions on both markets by the end of the year.
Adam Silver On Seattle And Climate Pledge Arena
Next-round bids for Las Vegas, which are not final bids, are coming in shortly.
“There was not as much discussion around Seattle as there was around Las Vegas, largely because, per the prior question, Las Vegas, it’s not even clear what the site will be, let alone the arena yet,” Silver said. “And therefore, it’s a much longer timeline before we can throw the ball up for NBA basketball.”
“On the other hand, in Seattle, we have had operational groups out to Climate Pledge,” Silver continued. “You clearly have a state-of-the-art arena there. It may require some modifications for NBA basketball, but if we were opening in five weeks, we could be ready in Seattle. But just because we can only take on so much at once, more of the discussion was around Las Vegas. I’ve been saying it’s our goal to have decisions by the end of the year, and that continues to be our goal.”
One Roof Sports, the parent company of the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, is the only group that has publicly expressed interest in a Seattle team, KING 5 reported. Melinda French Gates is part of that investment group.
Seattle had an NBA team from 1967 to 2008. The Seattle SuperSonics won the 1979 championship and relocated to Oklahoma City, where they became the Oklahoma City Thunder. The arena was essentially rebuilt and became home to the Kraken, the NHL’s 2021 expansion team.
The board voted March 25 to formally explore expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle. The league hired investment bank PJT Partners to evaluate the markets, the ownership groups, and the arena plans.
At the July board meetings in Las Vegas, Silver said the process was on track. Teams in both cities are expected to debut in the 2028-29 season, with an expansion draft in the summer of 2028, KING 5 reported.
Las Vegas Site Still Open As Next-Round Bids Arrive
Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, a Las Vegas resident, led the owners’ discussion on potential Las Vegas sites.
“Several active groups, I’ll leave it at that, and I’ll say that there was a discussion led by Patrick Dumont, of course, who’s a Las Vegas resident and enormous operating experience there in Las Vegas, just sort of as an independent objective party, led a discussion around the various sites, potential sites in Las Vegas,” Silver explained. “I think that there is real excitement around either a renovated T-Mobile Arena. I think everyone acknowledges if a team were to stay there, it still needs some significant improvements.”
“But at the same time, there are groups who have presented plans to build what I would call a modern entertainment palace in Las Vegas,” Silver added. “And it’s a unique market where you could truly see essentially 365-day-a-year activity. There was some discussion about how much the Sphere has impacted Las Vegas. What a technological marvel that is, what it’s meant as a showcase, even as what it’s meant economically for Las Vegas, and some discussions around a similar vein.”
“But I think right now we’re at the point where there will be next-round bids coming in shortly,” Silver continued. “Not final bids, but next-round bids coming in. And my personal view is it’s premature to start locking in the site. I think there are several different locations that would be very viable for NBA basketball in Las Vegas.”
Dumont represents Dallas on the board and became chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands on March 1.
At least four groups remained involved in Las Vegas ahead of the meetings, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. A group led by Golden Knights owner Bill Foley wants the team to play at T-Mobile Arena and has talked about up to $400 million in renovations to the 10-year-old building.
Expansion fees are expected to land between $7 billion and $10 billion per team. The fees would be split among the existing owners, the Review-Journal reported.
Silver has said the league could expand to both cities, to one of them, or to neither.
