The NBA board of governors approved a vote Wednesday to take the next steps in adding two expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas. This now sets the league up to start taking bids on the two new franchises, with the expected offers to be in the $7 billion to $10 billion range.
“Today’s vote reflects our board’s interest in exploring potential expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle — two markets with a long history of support for NBA basketball,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We look forward to taking this next step and engaging with interested parties.”
The idea of expansion is a “when, not if” conversation for the NBA, sources told ESPN, and it has always been a hot-button topic around the league. Adding two new teams could significantly change the league, creating a power balance shift as more talent is spread across 32 teams instead of 30 now. Having an expansion draft for the two teams could level the playing field a bit and create more competitiveness near the bottom of the standings in each conference.
What’s next for NBA expansion? Five big-picture questions as Seattle, Las Vegas get closer to having teams
Sam Quinn
However, there’s also the argument that the NBA adding two more teams could create a bigger tanking problem. The two expansion teams might flounder for some years as they establish themselves, making the conversation around tanking grow even louder.
Those are conversations for a different day. Right now, the league plans to start looking at bids for both teams over the next few months. The hope is that the league could generate a bidding war for these two teams involving some of the wealthiest people in the world. There’s already been vocal interest from the likes of Hall of Famer Magic Johnson about being part of the Las Vegas ownership group. Billy Foley, who owns the NHL‘s Vegas Golden Knights and has a 15% stake in T-Mobile Arena (likely where the expansion team will play), has also said he has an interest in being part of the ownership group in Vegas.
The league is reportedly targeting the 2028-29 season to add these two teams, per ESPN. But before we can get there, a few things have to happen first. Bids for both markets will be examined over the next few months, and the decision on whether to purchase the teams in 2026 or in the next few years will need to be made. Another vote to finalize the transactions of the two teams will possibly take place later this year. Twenty-three of the 30 governors need to approve the vote for it to pass.
Conference realignment will also have to be figured out. With both Seattle and Las Vegas in the western part of the United States, both teams would obviously join the Western Conference. That would create the need for one team to be moved to the Eastern Conference. Either the Minnesota Timberwolves or Memphis Grizzlies would likely be the team to shift conferences, according to ESPN.
