LAS VEGAS — Tuesday would have been the perfect day for Adam Silver to announce that the NBA was expanding to Las Vegas.
The league was in town for the culmination of its second NBA Cup in-season tournament with a national television audience tuning in to watch the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder square off for big money and a gleaming trophy, which Giannis Antetokounmpo help up after the Bucks defeated the Thunder, 97-81.
But there was no announcement. In fact, there was nothing from the commish with any kind of update on expansion, where the folks here and in Seattle among several locales have anxiously been awaiting word on when the process will begin, much less know if their municipalities will be anointed the NBA’s 31st and 32nd members.
I guess with no news to talk about, Silver, who is normally very accessible with the media, kept silent. But it makes you wonder why the NBA is slow-walking the whole expansion thing. Silver said that once the collective bargaining agreement with the players was finalized and the media rights deal done, the league would look at growing.
Both have been accomplished. By now, you would have thought the Board of Governors would have formed an expansion committee to look at cities, vet potential ownership groups and everything else that goes into the process.
Apparently the NBA isn’t quite ready to do that. Maybe we’ll get word come February at the league’s All-Star Weekend in San Francisco. Or perhaps during the NBA Finals come June.
Meanwhile, here at T-Mobile Arena, the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights publicly said he’s interested in being an NBA team owner.
That’s right, Bill Foley is on the record for the first time saying he’d like to add a second tenant at “The Fortress.”
He’d probably have to enlist some investors to join him in such a venture. By the way LeBron James, I have Bill’s number if you need it. Same for you Shaquille O’Neal.
A Foley-owned NBA team makes a lot of sense. For starters, he has instant credibility here in Las Vegas. He was the first one to bring major league professional sports to town in 2017 with the Golden Knights. He delivered a Stanley Cup in 2023 and kept his promise of “Cup in Six.” He has raised tens of millions of dollars for charities in the community and when Las Vegas suffered its darkest day on Oct. 1, 2017 when the mass shooing occurred at the Harvest 91 Music Festival, Foley’s organization was front and center helping the city heal in the aftermath.
He has been through the vetting process with the NHL so he’ll know what to expect if and when the NBA considers him for a franchise.
He also has a piece of T-Mobile Arena. In a recent interview on the local PBS station, Foley said there’s $300 million that would be committed to increase capacity at the building, which opened in 2016 with a price tag of $375 million and seats 18,000 for basketball along with make any other capital improvements.
And he wouldn’t ask for a dime of public money. Though technically, the public has been contributing to an arena improvement fund from Day One. A portion of every ticket sold for an event at T-Mobile Arena goes into the fund that has been accruing interest and growing year after year after year.
I don’t know how much is in the fund but I’m guessing it’s north of $300 million.
And Foley would not be breaking ground were he to own an NBA and an NHL team. In New York, Jim Dolan owns the Knicks and the Rangers. In Washington, Ted Leonsis owns the Wizards and the Capitals. In Toronto, Larry Tanenbaum owns the Raptors and the Maple Leafs. Stan Kroenke owns the Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche. Josh Harris owns the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils. And most recently, Ryan Smith added the Utah Hockey Club to his dossier which includes the Utah Jazz. So as you can see, there’s plenty of precedent.
And as rich as Foley is (his worth is valued at $2 billion according to Forbes Magazine), He’s going to need help, especially if the reports of an NBA expansion team going for a $4 billion price tag are accurate. Maybe he can join forces with the Maloof family again. The Maloofs have owned NBA teams in Houston and Sacramento and were initial investors in the NHL’s Golden Knights.
But whoever goes into business with Foley better understand two things — one, he’s going to want to win an NBA title; two, he’ll be the one calling the shots for the ownership group. He has referred to himself as a benevolent dictator during his time owning the Knights.
He likely will have competition when it comes time to apply for a franchise here. And that’s fine. But with his track record and ties to this community (he lives and votes in Nevada), Foley appears to be the ideal candidate to own a Las Vegas NBA team once he commissioner gets the process going, whenever that will be.