Would you be willing to spend as much for a new NBA expansion team in Las Vegas as was recently paid for the Los Angeles Lakers? According to a new report by Shams Charania from ESPN, someone is prepared to do just that, and the NBA is expected to choose the new owner “very soon.”
The NBA is reportedly set to award the Las Vegas expansion team ownership to one of three finalist groups, with bids valued at a minimum of $12-13 billion. This figure likely includes both the franchise fee and a new arena. The finalist groups are led by Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; and Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo, according to sources cited by ESPN.
It’s worth noting that Charania’s wording hints at a possible split of a $10 billion franchise fee plus $2-3 billion for a new arena. Although Las Vegas already has the T-Mobile Arena, which hosts the NHL’s Golden Knights and the WNBA’s Aces, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently said the facility requires significant upgrades before it can accommodate an NBA team. Given the trend of NBA ownership as a major real estate play (just ask Mark Cuban), it’s probable that the winning owner would prefer constructing a new arena as the centerpiece of a larger hotel, casino, resort, and possibly retail and residential complex, rather than renting existing space.
The three potential ownership groups detailed by ESPN are:
Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo: Foley, owner of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, joined forces with Colangelo, former Phoenix Suns owner. Though Colangelo joined the process late (in July) and Foley has connections to T-Mobile Arena, they plan to build a new venue. Their group also includes former NBA players Vinny Del Negro and Jay Williams, ex-Turner Sports president David Levy, and Scott Colangelo of Prime Capital Financial.
Bill Laurie and Nancy Walton Laurie: Bill Laurie, previously the NHL’s St. Louis Blues owner, and his wife Nancy Walton Laurie, daughter of Walmart co-founder James “Bud” Walton, live in the Las Vegas area and have a net worth estimated at around $17 billion.
Marc Lasry and Steve Apostolopoulos: Lasry, former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks who sold his share, is seeking a return to NBA ownership. He is teamed up with Apostolopoulos, a Canadian billionaire.
For some time, it’s been reported that the NBA plans to pick the Las Vegas ownership group first before turning attention to Seattle, where the situation is more straightforward. Seattle’s leading bid comes from Samantha Holloway, owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and majority owner of the NBA-ready Climate Pledge Arena. A second bid recently emerged from BlackSun Private Equity in partnership with the Tulalip Tribes, proposing a new arena approximately 35 miles outside Seattle, but the seriousness of their bid remains unclear. It’s also possible that one of the losing Las Vegas bidders might enter the Seattle race.
The Seattle franchise is anticipated to cost several billion dollars less than the Las Vegas team. The NBA has been vetting ownership candidates for both cities since March. After a recent Board of Governors meeting, Adam Silver stated that both ownership groups are expected to be officially approved before year’s end, and the announcement for Las Vegas should be imminent.
Fan Take: This news highlights how NBA expansion is evolving into a massive financial and real estate venture, signaling the league’s growing influence and value. For basketball fans, a Las Vegas team could revitalize the sport with a fresh market and state-of-the-art facilities, further boosting the NBA’s popularity and reach.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
