After years of will-they-won’t-they speculation (so many years!), the NBA took its first formal step toward expansion Wednesday, and Seattle is one of two cities in the running.
The NBA’s Board of Governors voted unanimously to authorize Commissioner Adam Silver to begin formal discussions with prospective ownership groups about expansion franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas.
The NBA is targeting the 2028-29 season for the two expansion franchises to begin play, with a bidding process expected to generate offers in the $7-10 billion range per team.
“Today’s vote reflects our Board’s interest in exploring potential expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle — two markets with a long history of support for NBA basketball,” Silver said in a statement. “We look forward to taking this next step and engaging with interested parties.”
Seattle’s path looks cleaner than Las Vegas’s. While multiple groups are expected to compete for the Vegas franchise, only one group has publicly declared its intention in Seattle: One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the umbrella company unveiled this week by Kraken owner Samantha Holloway. If Seattle gets a team, the Sonics’ history, logo, team name, and intellectual property would all return to the city. Climate Pledge Arena, already home to the NHL’s Kraken, the WNBA’s Storm, and PWHL’s Torrent, is the obvious home for a returning NBA franchise, giving Seattle an infrastructure advantage that few expansion candidates have ever enjoyed.
Unlike in 2007 when the Sonics were teetering on the brink of disaster (and disaster did indeed strike; keen-eyed observers may notice that Seattle no longer has an NBA team), Washington’s elected leadership weighed in support. Governor Bob Ferguson, who held two virtual meetings with Silver in the past month including one just Monday, called the vote “a milestone” and pledged state partnership in the effort. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson was equally direct, saying the city “never stopped being a basketball city” and pointing to Climate Pledge Arena as proof of readiness.
Executives around the league believe the two markets, especially Seattle, will generate enough long-term revenue growth to more than offset the dilution of splitting media rights among 32 teams instead of 30. As one team executive put it bluntly to The Athletic: “This is definitely going forward.”
Another signal that the vibes for expansion are strong: the vote was unanimous. They only needed 23 of 30 votes to pass, but all 30 owners, up to and including New York Knicks owner James Dolan, voted yes. Whatever reservations may have existed about revenue dilution or competitive balance, they weren’t enough to generate even a single dissenting vote.
What to Expect Next
The league has hired investment bank PJT Partners as a strategic adviser to vet prospective ownership groups, arena infrastructure, and the broader economic implications of expansion in both markets. That process is expected to take several months.
The bidding process is now formally open, but only to groups in Seattle and Las Vegas. In Seattle, One Roof Sports and Entertainment holds the Kraken’s lease at Climate Pledge Arena, the only NBA-ready building in the city, and no other ownership group has publicly signaled interest in a Seattle franchise. There is no realistic competing bid.
A final approval vote, again requiring 23 of 30 governors, could come as soon as the summer owners’ meetings during NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, depending on how quickly ownership groups are settled upon. Once expansion is finalized, expect a team (likely Minnesota or Memphis) to move to the Eastern Conference, rebalancing both conferences to 16 teams with Seattle and Las Vegas joining the West.
Seattle has been without an NBA team for 18 years. That wait, it appears, is almost over.
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