Field for ownership of Las Vegas expansion team keeps growing

LAS VEGAS — The field is growing larger with each passing week. It’s getting to the point where they should hand out numbers to stand in line, like a bakery does on Sunday morning.

You thought $8 billion was too exorbitant a price tag to join the NBA? Guess again.

There’s a lot of rich people in this world and the possibility of owning a professional basketball team is so tempting, money apparently is no object.

By my count, there are six potential groups or individuals that have publicly expressed interest of bringing the NBA to Las Vegas which if approved, is expected to begin play in 2028. And that doesn’t count Shaquille O’Neal, whose hulking presence lurks in the background as he wants to be part of whatever group ultimately prevails. Nor does it include the folks planning the Diamond Arena project across from Mandalay Bay.

If you’re Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, you’re rubbing your hands with glee. Because the price of poker is likely to go up. $8 billion you say? How about $10 billion? Or $12 billion? Who knows where the final number will land?

We probably won’t get a better sense of things come Tuesday when Silver meets with the media following the Board of Governors’ annual summer meeting here in Las Vegas. He’ll get asked the expansion question in various ways and he’ll calmly deflect giving direct answers because he’s not about to skewer the process, one that involves intense vetting and careful consideration on a number of factors, not the least of which will be where will the Las Vegas NBA team call home?

Whoever can deliver on an arena for the team which will allow it to control all the revenue streams a professional franchise needs to have in its possession to have financial success in the 21st Century — suites and club seats, naming rights to the arena, parking, concessions, regional television rights — will be the likely successful bidder.

Let us not forget that this is a business decision first and a basketball decision second. Remember, the current 30 teams are deciding to take a smaller cut of the basketball generated revenue pie by adding two teams (Las Vegas and Seattle). So the last thing they want is for one or both of the expansion teams to fail financially. On the court, they’ll hope the teams finish last and next to last though Silver doesn’t share that mindset.

So if you’re Bill Foley, the owner of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and who is one of the six bidders we know of, you may not be the leader in the clubhouse despite the success your franchise has had on and off the ice. Foley only owns a small piece of T-Mobile Arena — 15 percent  —the rest is divided evenly between MGM Resorts and the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), each having a 42.5 percent stake in what VGK fans call “The Fortress.”

And even with Foley’s plans to spend $300 million to upgrade the 10-year-old arena, that still doesn’t mean the NBA team would reap the financial benefits that Silver would like to see.

Which is why other groups that have arena projects tied to their bids could be looked upon more favorably. Jerry Colangelo’s group, dubbed the Las Vegas Jacks which includes his son Scott, former Turner Sports head David Levy and former NBA players Vinny Del Negro and Jay Williams, are looking at a combined project. Same for LVXP, the development group that wants to put an arena on the Strip at the old Wet ’N’ Wild site near Sahara Avenue it obtained from former UNLV and NBA player Jackie Robinson’s AllNet company.

And there’s the MAGI Group that has Hall of Famer Magic Johnson along with local businessman Mike Bellon that would develop a resort and arena on the Strip to house an NBA team. They’ve met with Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo hoping to elicit his support.

But wait, there’s more.

Marc Lasry, the CEO of the Avenue Financial Group who co-owned the Milwaukee Bucks with Wes Edens from 2014 to 2023 before selling. Is looking to get back into the NBA. And there’s Bob Iger, the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company who has a long relationship with the league when he was running ESPN and ABC. He’s teaming up with the Thrive Eternal Group, which is headed by Joshua Kushner.

If that name is familiar, it should be. He’s the brother of Jared Kushner, who’s President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. His father is Charles Kushner, who had served time in prison for tax evasion and witness retaliation before Trump pardoned him in 2020.

So as you can see, there’s no shortage of suitors for the Las Vegas NBA expansion franchise. And there’s no shortage of money either. This isn’t John Spano, who tried to scam his way into the NHL back in the 1990s when he fraudulently attempted to obtain the New York Islanders. And while the NBA is smart to carefully vet every one of these groups to make sure they don’t get “Spanoed,” they’re likely not going to turn up enough red flags to disqualify any of them.

I remember Foley, who heads Fidelity National Financial, telling me 10 years ago that the NHL’s vetting of him and his partners was the most thorough he had ever experienced. Of course, Colangelo was a former owner of the Phoenix Suns and he has been through the process. And obviously the NBA is familiar with Lasry from when he purchased the Bucks from Herb Kohl back in 2014.

Magic? Same with the NFL when he because a minority owner of the Washington Commanders and Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers along with the WNBA where he has a piece of the Los Angeles Sparks. An of course, he was a minority stakeholder in the Lakers for 16 years so he knows the drill when it comes to being vetted.

I’m not sure how important having ties to the community will matter in the final determination of who gets to own the Las Vegas NBA franchise. Foley’s ownership of the Golden Knights would count for a lot if that were the case as the amount of goodwill he has generated in the community during the existence of the team is significant.

Foley is expected to attend this year’s NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center, which tipped off Thursday. Attempts to reach him for comment for this story were unsuccessful. But he recently told Las Vegas television station KTNV that he believed his track record and his having an NBA-ready building makes him an attractive bidder.

"We brought the first major professional sports team to Las Vegas, and we've been successful," Foley said. "Most importantly, we're Vegas Born. We know how to make a team part of the community.

“The NBA is such an international league. We have an opportunity to really create an international franchise, and Vegas will be proud of it. We want to be the world's team.”

Colangelo was responsible for bringing USA Basketball’s training camp to Las Vegas while he was in charge and people haven’t forgotten that. Magic has a hand in businesses in Las Vegas, including Starbucks and Burger King.

Attempts to reach Colangelo were unsuccessful. But in a release put out by his group, both Jerry and Scott Colangelo expressed confidence in their ability to win the bid and make the Las Vegas franchise successful on and off the court.

“Basketball has become a global sport to levels never seen before,” said Jerry Colangelo. "With the five top MVP vote-getters being all internationally born, the game is reaching unparalleled heights. My excitement for this project and for our Jacks’ vision is right up there in terms of my career. We all are committed and working as hard as we can to bring the league, owners and the fans, the best proposal and end product possible to Las Vegas.”
 
Scott Colangelo said: “Our team is focused on executing on three very distinct levels, Raise the entirety of the capital in cash with exceptional business leaders. Build the most impressive state of the art basketball arena in the world. And be part of a group committed to giving the city of Las Vegas what they deserve, exceptional. Not good or great. Exceptional. You can only do that with people who know basketball, and have successfully run professional sports teams.
“The quality of our team is second to none and we fully plan on executing on all of the above priorities. The people of Las Vegas deserve no less.”
Each of these entities have a lot of positives to it. But whoever ultimately wins the bid will carry a heavy burden and responsibility to ensure the franchise’s success. For the NBA’s Board Of Governors to vet this carefully and find the best ownership group is the most important aspect of this process. Silver and the league have exercised caution throughout and have not rushed to expand. And as things head toward a conclusion later this year, perhaps it’s more important than ever that they act prudently and make sure they get it right.