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The NBA has significant interest among investors for an expansion franchise in Las Vegas, according to NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
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Though nothing is official just yet, the NBA seems destined to expand to a 32-team league, with franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas at the top of the list.
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Seattle seems like basically a done deal, as the league owes the city a team after robbing the Emerald City of the Seattle SuperSonics, who later became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Plus, the new Seattle team (which will likely be the SuperSonics) already has a home ready to go in Climate Pledge Arena — the same place where the old SuperSonics used to play when it was called KeyArena — as the arena was renovated when the Seattle Kraken entered the NHL in 2021.
Las Vegas, however, is the one that has a few more issues to solve, especially in terms of an arena, but it appears likely that something is going to give and there will be an NBA team in Nevada sooner rather than later.
Adam Silver Bullish on Las Vegas Expansion, But Questions Remain
Speaking to reporters this week, Silver admitted that while he is bullish about an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas, there are still major questions remaining before it can happen, including where the team will play.
While the T-Mobile Arena — the home of the UFC, boxing, and the Vegas Golden Knights NHL team — is an option, the city could also build a brand-new building for the Las Vegas NBA team to play at.
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“I think that there is real excitement around either a renovated T-Mobile Arena (or a new arena). I think everyone acknowledges that T-Mobile’s there and 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. And it’s a unique market where you can truly see essentially 365-day-a-year activity,” Silver said.
Based on these comments, it’s easy to see why Silver is excited about an opportunity to expand to a city as lucrative as Las Vegas, where the money flows like water.
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The NHL and NFL have welcomed teams to Sin City within the last decade, and the MLB will soon, too, when the Athletics move to Las Vegas in 2028.
Now, it looks like Las Vegas may also get an NBA team, giving basketball fans there a team of their own to cheer for after years of the NBA Summer League taking place in the city.
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Record Expansion Fees in Sight
The NBA is expected to command a massive expansion fee for a team in Las Vegas, with a price tag between $7 billion and $10 billion, which will likely be more than the Seattle expansion franchise.
That expansion fee would then be shared among the league’s current 30 owners, so it’s easy to see why the other teams are eager to have Las Vegas (and Seattle) confirmed as the NBA’s newest expansion franchises.
Silver revealed that the league is talking to four potential ownership groups about the expansion fee, so it seems likely that the NBA will get the money that it wants for its new Las Vegas expansion club.
“These are groups that have already qualified. There were some groups that fell out after the first round of bidding. These are now groups that, again, are known to us and are working with our investment banking group, PJT. And again, they’re working on a process with them in a format for how to submit their next bids,” Silver said.
The new Las Vegas team could begin play in the 2028-29 season, so an NBA team in Sin City could become a reality in just a few short years.
There is still a ton of work to do, but it appears that the NBA is going to have two new teams within the next few years, and Seattle and Las Vegas feel like the favorites to get these two new teams, giving the league 32 teams — the same number as the NFL and the NHL, and two more than the MLB, which is also discussing expansion at the moment.
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 2:03 PM.