The NBA has been a 30 league team for more than 20 years, but the league’s growth and two markets needing an NBA franchise for two different reasons makes expansion even more likely.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has confirmed the league is exploring the possibility of awarding Las Vegas and Seattle two new franchises as part of a potential expansion.
Silver spoke in front of the press before the NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas on December 17, where he revealed the league is “looking” at Seattle and has “no doubt” Las Vegas can support an NBA team.
“(It is) not a secret, we’re looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle,” said Silver.
“We’ve looked at other markets as well. I’d say I want to be sensitive there about this notion that we’re somehow teasing these markets, because I know we’ve been talking about it for a while.”
The NBA Commissioner said the league has been exploring the idea of expanding the league from 30 to 32 teams for several years now.
From 1967 to 2008, Seattle was a member of the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics,winning an NBA Championship in 1979.
However, once Clay Bennett bought the team in 2006, he subsequently relocated the team to Oklahoma City and has remained there ever since, leaving Seattle without an NBA franchise.
Conversely, Las Vegas has never had an NBA team, but it does have a WNBA team, the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces have quickly become one of the most successful WNBA teams in recent history since being relocated from San Antonio in 2018. The team has won three of the last four WNBA Championships (2022, 2023, 2025) and has been the home of four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson ever since she was drafted by the Aces in 2018.
Silver described both Seattle and Las Vegas as “two incredible cities” both remain the favourites to land an NBA franchise if an expansion takes place next year.
“Obviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success,” said Silver. “We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. … I don’t have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team.”
How likely is expansion next year?
The NBA last expanded the league when the Charlotte Bobcats, now called the Charlotte Hornets, were added in 2004.
In order for the NBA to grow to a 32-team league, both franchises must be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors, which is predominantly made up of the 30 league owners of NBA teams. All 30 league owners must vote yes for an expansion team to be added to the league.
There are a lot of financial considerations league owners take into account when it pertains to another franchise being added. Ultimately, a 32-team league means TV and other commercial revenue will be split more broadly, meaning average revenue will decrease.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said on the Bill Simmons Podcast in June 2025 that New York Knicks owner James Dolan is against expansion as he does not want to share the TV revenue with two additional teams.
“I think now we’re in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro-forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we’ll make a determination,” said Silver.
While the other 30 NBA franchises will see their average TV revenue decrease if two new teams come in, they will split the expansion fee evenly between them bringing in added money.
The Bobcats ownership paid an expansion fee of $300m in 2004 but a 2026 expansion fee for both Seattle and Las Vegas could fall in the region of $4bn-$5bn, according to the New York Times.
NBA Europe update
Silver also gave an update on the status of the proposed NBA Europe league.
He alluded to some news coming next month on NBA Europe, which could be before the January 15 regular season game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic, held in Berlin.
The league has already been putting the wheels in motion for the formation of the European league which could be launched in October 2027.
“I would say we’re casting a very, very wide net right now and essentially saying to anyone who’s interested, come see our bankers, explain to us why you’re interested, how you view the opportunity, what resources you would put behind opening a team, and then we’re taking all that information back,” said Silver.
“And then I think sometime in late January, or in January, we’ll be in a position to have more serious conversations with those interested parties.”
