Domestic and international expansion is on the table.
The National Basketball Association’s off-season might be far more compelling than the 2025-2026 season. The league could have a much different look going into the future based on business interests. There could be an NBA European league and the league could identify potential owners in Las Vegas and in Seattle that have the money to buy expansion franchises. The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed those two items. An NBA domestic expansion could pull in billions of dollars to be split by the 30 NBA owners. Establishing a 12 or 16 team European league can bring in billions of dollars and if the NBA crushes the existing European league so be it. It’s just business, nothing personal. The NBA doesn’t necessarily need to add teams but Seattle is a market with the kind of corporate money that a franchise needs while Las Vegas is an entertainment hub.
The expansion conversations have started. “There’s multiple groups interested in both cities. We are in discussions with them.” Silver said. “What we have told all interested parties, our anticipation is our Board will make a decision by the end of this calendar year.” But Silver added that it is “not a foregone conclusion that (we) will expand either in one city or both cities,” Meanwhile it is full steam ahead in Europe. “We are very much on schedule,” Silver said. “It is our hope and anticipation that that league will launch in the ’27-28 season in Europe. We are on track. Final bids from franchises are due at the end of this month, at the end of the month in June. We’ve seen record interest and we’re very excited about the ongoing opportunity and working closely with FIBA, our federation.” The NBA may engage in a hostile business takeover of European basketball.
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