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Nevada’s congressional delegation sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver urging the league to select Las Vegas as a site for a future franchise. The letter, dated March 19, 2026, was signed by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, along with Reps. Dina Titus, Mark Amodei, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford.
The lawmakers urged Silver to consider Las Vegas’ 20-year partnership with the NBA through hosting the Summer League and NBA Cup championships. “As you consider the future of the NBA, we strongly urge you to build on the League’s local momentum by selecting Las Vegas as a site for a future league franchise,” the letter reads in part.
Tafur: There is a growing sense of pride in Las Vegas as a new sports capital of the country, full of new stars. The Raiders haven’t been able to capitalize on that, but the NBA is a different animal, and there should be some excitement for the nightly arrival of the league’s best players, even if the new team doesn’t have any at first. It will be a good fit with all the sparkle on the Strip. The different sports seem to do a good job of cross-promotion as well, as Mark Davis can be seen ringside at all the big boxing matches.
Draymond Green: Man, can you imagine, though, for players in the Western Conference? You get Vegas and Seattle. Meanwhile, the East picks up Minnesota and Memphis. Man, that’s a drastic change. Guys in the West, you are ecstatic. Like, yo, you get trips to Vegas and Seattle now, as opposed to going to Minnesota more than once, or going to Memphis more than once. And just do Memphis—do everybody a favor—and move that team to Nashville. There are no great hotels in Memphis. I love the people of Memphis. They are incredible. Shout out to the people of Memphis. I love them. But just from an NBA standpoint, man, there’s not a sauna or a hot tub in sight. Nowhere. Not at the gym, not at a spa, not at a hotel—nothing. Not in sight. So the NBA either needs to send that team to Nashville so they can have proper facilities, or, even better, the NBA should make it mandatory that teams have at least a hot tub and cold tub, but probably also a sauna, in their visiting locker room.”
Fenway Sports Group, James’ business partner since 2011 that owns both the Boston Red Sox and English Premier League soccer giant Liverpool, is not currently interested in pursuing the likely expansion opportunity in Las Vegas, two sources with direct knowledge of the firm’s intentions told The Athletic. One of those sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly for Fenway, said the global sports investment firm was out on NBA ownership in Las Vegas because of the expected cost — the league is reportedly seeking expansion fees as high as $8 billion per team.
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Within league circles, it has been seen as the expected outcome for several years, though it was far from a certainty because of some pushback from different owners over the economics for the reasons laid out above. However, when Silver said in December a decision was coming in 2026, the belief within the league was that expansion to Seattle and Las Vegas was close to inevitable. While next week's vote is not a binding resolution, something like that is more likely to come at the July board of governors meeting during the Las Vegas Summer League, sources told ESPN.
Vinny Benedetto: David Adelman's succinct thoughts on NBA expansion: "Keep Portland in Portland and add Seattle. Vegas would be cool. Nashville is a nice city."
NBA commissioner Adam Silver met with Gov. Joe Lombardo last week on a Zoom call to discuss expansion and the Las Vegas market, according to a person familiar with the situation. Silver told Lombardo the league probably would add two expansion franchises, with Las Vegas and Seattle the destinations of choice, the person said. NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and his group, the MAGI, expressed an interest last week in being part of the ownership group if Las Vegas gets a franchise. Lombardo met with Johnson in February, the first NBA expansion-related talks between the top government official in Nevada and an interested ownership group.
As Castro described his background and answered regulators’ questions, one board member encouraged him to use vacant land at the Strip property to build an arena for use by a likely National Basketball Association expansion team for Las Vegas. “I think it would be fantastic for the north end of the Strip and for the entire city of Las Vegas and the state for that matter, to have an NBA team here,” Board member George Assad said in the hearing. “And that venue could also be used for concerts and other things as well,” he said. “I saw in the paper the other day that (businessman and former Los Angeles Laker) Magic Johnson met with Gov. (Joe) Lombardo and he’s interested in moving forward with some type of ownership structure that would be able to bring an NBA team here. I hope Mr. (NBA Commissioner Adam) Silver is listening and watching and we definitely will support an NBA team.”
The NBA will hold a vote at the board of governors meetings next week to explore adding expansion teams exclusively in Las Vegas and Seattle, sources told ESPN, with the two new franchises being targeted to start play in the 2028-29 season. There is momentum within the board of governors and league office to approve moving forward with taking bids for franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.
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Industry executives project proposals in the $7-$10 billion range for each team and estimate that both markets would be among the NBA's top-eight revenue generators. The market appeal of Las Vegas and Seattle, plus the parity-friendly collective bargaining agreement, will likely lead to a robust purchase market for expansion.
A growing number of owners are believed to support expansion because of the long-term revenue growth for the league from the Las Vegas and Seattle markets. Some owners remain hesitant on selling some of their shares and having their league equity go from 1/30 to 1/32, and want to see the final valuations of the bids plus the individual franchise fees before deciding whether to expand now or in a few more years.
