THE NBA could finally be one more step on the long road to expansion.
Declaring that owners are “curious” about the notion, Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that the league will now study the issue more formally as part of an in-depth analysis, which would be the first official step in a long process to add franchises.
There’s no timetable on how long the process will take, and no decision has been made on how much the expansion fee will be, when the new teams will start playing — or even if the expansion will actually happen.
“A lot of analysis still needs to be done and nothing has been predetermined,” Silver said after the league’s board of governors meeting concluded in Las Vegas.
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The league is not creating a new committee to study expansion; The tasks, for now, will fall primarily on two existing groups, with the finance advisory committee leading the way and the audit and strategy committee also involved.
The decision to take a closer look at expansion wasn’t entirely unexpected, since the idea of adding clubs has been a topic of discussion for several years. Cities like Las Vegas and Seattle – long seen as being in the lead if the NBA decided to expand beyond its current 30-team footprint – will surely continue to push to be the eventual picks. And Silver himself has said previously that he expects the expansion to happen at some point.
“I think now there’s an important step in that we’re now engaging in this in-depth analysis, something we weren’t prepared to do before,” Silver said. “But beyond that, we’re only on day one of this in-depth analysis. And so, in terms of pricing and potential timeline, it’s too early to tell. … It’s really a complicated question.”
The next meeting of the board of governors will probably take place in September.
Expansion has long been a difficult issue because it would mean, among other things, that the current owners will have decided to sell shares in a league that is currently on a strong financial roll.
“For every team you add, you dilute the economics of the current league,” Silver said.
The NBA has a long-standing relationship with expansion candidate Las Vegas, primarily through its Summer League. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
A new round of media rights deals worth $76 billion are taking effect for the upcoming season and the value of franchises across the league has soared. The two most successful franchises in the NBA, the Boston Celtics And Los Angeles Lakersthe clubs, which together have won about half of the titles awarded in the league’s history, are being sold for a combined valuation of at least $16.1 billion.
The Celtics are being sold to private equity mogul Bill Chisholm for a valuation of at least $6.1 billion, which was a record until the Buss family agreed to sell the Lakers to businessman Mark Walter – also owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers – for a valuation of $10 billion.
“There’s no question that these purchase prices impact any economic analysis of teams, so it doesn’t necessarily complicate things further, but it’s certainly an indication of value,” Silver said. “And another factor we have to look at: We try to think about the value of expansion, what it means to dilute existing equity and how much that potentially adds to the league by adding an additional team.”
Another team that could be sold shortly: The Portland Trail Blazers.
The estate of Paul Allen announced in May that it had begun the process of selling the Trail Blazers.
“The league would rather this team stay in Portland,” Silver said. “We’ve had great success in Portland over the years. … I know there are groups that are actively engaged in this and have expressed interest in this team.”
The Portland Trail Blazers could soon be up for sale, but the NBA would prefer the team stay in the city. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Silver said one factor in the sale was that “the city of Portland probably needs a new arena,” which he said would be part of the challenge for any new ownership group.
Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Since then, his sister, Jody Allen, has served as president of the Trail Blazers and the NFL. Seattle Seahawks and trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust.
The league has added seven franchises since 1988, but none since 2004. There have been several instances of rebranding and relocation since, including the SuperSonics moving from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008 and becoming the Thunder – but the league has grown to 30 teams over the past two decades.
Las Vegas has a long-standing relationship with the NBA, as host of the Summer League and now host of the NBA Cup title round. And Seattle is one of the cities that has been clamoring for a team since the departure of the Sonics.
“It’s an incredible market,” Silver said of Seattle. “I would have liked, as commissioner, to have a lot of teams to distribute to a lot of different markets interested in NBA basketball. I just think we also have this greater obligation to expand, if we do, in a very deliberate way and in a way that makes sense from an overall standpoint for the league. So, that’s really the best I can do.”
Associated Press reporting.
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