NBA targets 2028-29 season for Las Vegas and Seattle expansion teams

The National Basketball Association is formally eyeing the 2028-29 campaign to launch two brand-new expansion franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle. According to league reporting, expansion preparations are accelerating. Speaking during meetings of the league's leadership, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver noted that Las Vegas has dominated recent expansion discussions, moving with more pace than Seattle. While Seattle discussions continue to move forward steadily, the Nevada market benefits from a deeper pool of interested financial backers and multiple potential venue plans.

The financial scale of the impending league growth is unprecedented. Investment banking firm PJT Partners has been vetting ownership groups and arena proposals, with anticipated expansion fees expected to reach massive heights. Projected expansion fees range between $7 billion and $10 billion, with funds distributed among current team owners. Silver noted that a group landing a Las Vegas expansion team would pay more than one in Seattle.

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Discussions among potential owners and arena developers kept Las Vegas front and center during a meeting of the NBA Board of Governors. Silver explained that Las Vegas received more attention than Seattle because the Emerald City has fewer potential ownership groups and only one arena site. By comparison, Las Vegas has at least four potential ownership groups and even more potential arena sites. Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, who is a Las Vegas resident and has operating experience there, led a discussion about potential NBA arena sites in Southern Nevada as an independent, objective party.

The Las Vegas bidders include Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill Laurie, former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo and former player Vinny Del Negro, and one anonymous group. Multiple deadlines have passed for the submission of plans, including financial information. Silver stated that the next deadline for the bid groups involved in the Las Vegas process is Thursday, involving groups that have already qualified and are working with PJT Partners on how to submit their next bids.

Venue logistics remain a central puzzle for the prospective Nevada franchise. While about a dozen plans have been announced over the past few years, Silver pointed out that T-Mobile Arena could serve as an immediate home for an NBA team while a dedicated modern venue is constructed over multiple years. Alternatively, groups like Bill Foley's have explored significant upgrades to existing properties. Foley told reporters that up to $400 million in renovations would be made to the ten-year-old T-Mobile Arena to accommodate an NBA team alongside the National Hockey League's Golden Knights. However, Silver added that a group making the kind of investment required to land an NBA team likely would want to build a new arena to reap the benefits a new facility would offer, including lucrative naming rights, partnership deals, and the ability to book non-basketball events 365 days a year.

The inclusion of Las Vegas would complete an extraordinary sports boom for the region. Within a single decade, the city has welcomed major franchises across top professional sports leagues. Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, noted that adding the NHL, NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA in that period of time is a remarkable feat for the city. Hill added that Vegas has been a basketball city for decades, getting its start with UNLV in the 1970s and 1980s.

As the league moves closer to formalizing rosters and franchise parameters, analysts and fans have already begun simulating how future player acquisitions might unfold through mock drafts and salary-cap management strategies. Analysts have tested various roster builds and protected player pools under hypothetical expansion draft scenarios for the two prospective franchises.

What to Watch Next

• Upcoming bid submission deadlines for qualified Las Vegas ownership groups.
• PJT Partners evaluation updates regarding arena financing and final venue selection.
• Further formal announcements from the NBA Board of Governors regarding timeline milestones for the 2028-29 launch.