NBA Commissioner: ‘No doubt’ Vegas will be on potential expansion list
Even after Las Vegas landed multiple professional sports franchises in the span of a few years, the one league that most favored to arrive first — the NBA — is still watching from the sidelines.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, speaking Tuesday in New York during the CAA World Congress of Sports, said it is no coincidence it has played out in this fashion, as the league had no intentions of being the major sports pioneer in the Southern Nevada market.
“It was never for us about being first,” Silver said during the event in a video posted to Sports Business Journal’s verified Twitter account. “In the old days we were one of the leagues that welcomed engagement in Las Vegas. Put aside the gambling aspect … we always thought it was a good market.”
Although Las Vegas is still without an NBA franchise, Silver said he considers the area part of the league due to the Summer League that has occurred annually in some fashion — outside of 2020 due to the pandemic — since 2004.
Silver said he jokes that the Summer League in Las Vegas is “almost like our 31st team with the kind of presence that we have. It’s a huge presence in Vegas in the summer. We sell well over 100,000 tickets and all of our teams are out there. It’s sort of like baseball winter meetings.”
Silver said the NBA is not at the point of expansion, but said Las Vegas will be in contention to land a franchise when that time comes.
“It’s on a list at the point that we do turn to expansion, which isn’t right now, but at some point, no doubt Vegas will be on the list.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
