NBA Will Decide On Expansion In 2026, Silver Says

At a press conference prior to the NBA Cup championship game, commissioner Adam Silver said the league would determine whether it would add a pair of domestic expansion teams at some point in 2026, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

As Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes, Tuesday evening marked the first time Silver has given a timeline for a decision on expansion since he first broached the possibility ahead of the 2020/21 season.

“I’d say in terms of domestic expansion, that is something we’re continuing to look at,” Silver said. “It’s not a secret we’re looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle. 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.

“As I’ve said before, domestic expansion, as opposed to doing a new league in Europe, is selling equity in this current league. If you own 1/30 of this league, now you own 1/32 if you add two teams. So it’s a much more difficult economic analysis. In many ways, it requires predicting the future.

“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.”

While Silver mentioned the NBA has looked at several possibilities, he clarified to Vardon after the press conference that the league is primarily focused on the cities of Las Vegas and Seattle, which have long been viewed as the frontrunners for potential expansion.

“I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities,” Silver said, per Bontemps. “Obviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. We’ve been playing the summer league here for 20 years. We’re playing our Cup games here, so we’re very familiar with this market.

“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.”

Silver also discussed several other topics on Tuesday, Bontemps adds, including the ongoing WNBA negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, Chris Paul‘s acrimonious exit from the Clippers, and the number of injuries around the league.

After the press conference ended, Silver suggested the NBA Cup final might be held at different venues going forward, per Jason Jones of The Athletic. The first three in-season tournament championship games were held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“We’ve loved our experience in Vegas,” Silver said in an appearance on the NBA on Prime pregame show. “We’re talking with Amazon Prime about whether it makes sense to maybe go to some unique locations for the final game. They’ve suggested, for example, some storied college arenas. So we’re just looking at other ways to do this.”