VEGAS SPORTS REPORT: Silver Calls Las Vegas NBA Expansion Talk “Music to My Ears”

Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley says it’s “highly likely” he will join forces with another investor group to secure a National Basketball Association (NBA) expansion franchise for Las Vegas, according to reporting by Las Vegas Weekly.

NBA Board of Governors voted to formally explore expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle during meetings in New York March 25.

Multiple Bidders Emerge

Several potential ownership groups have stepped forward, including Foley’s, another led by Jerry Colangelo looking to build a new NBA-only arena, and another led by NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson, which also calls for a new arena.

NBA expansion into Las Vegas was front and centre during the annual Summer League news conference held by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver last night (July 14) at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada. 

Foley’s Golden Knights National Hockey League (NHL) franchise joined the league for the 2017-18 season and already has one Stanley Cup title (2023). This past season, the Golden Knights were in the Cup final, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Foley Eyes NBA Future

The price tag for a Las Vegas NBA expansion team is expected to be between $7 billion and $10 billion, so already owning part of T-Mobile Arena and moving an NBA team into it might be viewed favourably by the NBA if the objective is to get the team up and running quickly. Foley said they have a plan to renovate T-Mobile Arena to make it more NBA-friendly, including adding 1,000 seats and luxury suites, at a cost of around $400 million, citing owners of other NHL teams who also own NBA teams and run them out of the same facility.

Foley told the Weekly they’ve already been in contact with three or four groups of individuals about consolidating efforts, groups that are looking at property to build a new arena, and didn’t rule out that being the eventual outcome.

Silver Praises Las Vegas

NBA expansion into Las Vegas was a prominent topic of discussion during last night’s annual Summer League news conference hosted by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Silver said there have been investor groups that have come forward both publicly and non-publicly for the Las Vegas franchise, which he said has been “music to my ears”.

“Multiple serious groups are in the process of presenting plans to our bankers,” he said. “Those plans not only include who the potential owners would be but their vision for what Las Vegas basketball would look like, where they would play, and how they would present the game. This city has become an entertainment hub globally.”

Expansion Decision Nears

Silver pointed to the popularity of basketball overall in Las Vegas, including the success of a WNBA franchise, a youth basketball foundation, the popularity of the NBA Summer League, going on this week, right down to the grassroots, the number of basketball courts in the city.

“No votes have been taken yet, and we have a way to go in terms of those discussions with interested parties,” he said. “But I’m optimistic about the future here.”

Silver reiterated the league is only looking at those two markets for expansion, and that a decision will be made, “by the end of the year”.

Sports Betting Scrutinzed

Silver also took a question about sports betting, a controversial topic of late, with former NBA players Terry Rozier and Malik Beasley embroiled in court cases involving alleged gambling scandals. Prosecutors said those players manipulated their on-court performances so bettors could cash in on prop bets.

The NBA Commissioner was asked about a potential scenario referenced by a gambling reporter at Forbes.com: a federal sports betting commissioner with investigative and subpoena powers, and a partnership with other pro sports leagues to develop a collective standard to address sports integrity issues across the board.

Silver has in the past talked about the benefits of federal oversight when it comes to legalized gambling, with one national framework, helping to legitimize it further.

Silver Wants Oversight

“I think it puts the league in a difficult position when we’re dealing essentially now with 40 different jurisdictions and their different approaches to sports betting,” said Silver.

“The idea of having a czar or commissioner … would be very helpful. We have remarkably little control over how our intellectual property is used. We don’t get to make decisions as to whether prop bets can be placed, and what kinds of prop bets? The unders are the most problematic in our league. 

“I think ideally that we would be a party to that, and if it’s a coalition with the other leagues, even better. We recognize this is a form of entertainment, but people can get in over their heads fairly quickly, and those kinds of controls need to be in place.”

McGregor Eyes UFC Return

Conor McGregor posted another Instagram video overnight, reaffirming what he has already said: he will return to the Octagon after Saturday night’s (July 11) stunning loss to Max Holloway in their welterweight UFC 329 fight at T-Mobile Arena.

McGregor, making his much-ballyhooed return after a five-year absence from UFC, suffered a catastrophic right leg injury 69 seconds into the fight, believed to be a right ACL injury. He has said he will undergo surgery, then begin rehabilitation with eyes on a return.

Saturday’s fight made a lot of money for sportsbooks. BetMGM’s trading manager Alex Rella said it was the most-bet MMA event in BetMGM history.