The NBA’s expansion plans in the USA continue to take shape. As reported by ESPN, the Board of Governors has voted in favor of obtaining initial bids.
The NBA expansion to 32 teams has cleared another hurdle. As ESPN reporter Shams Charania writes, the current 30 teams have agreed in principle to an expansion.
In the next step, the league will hold talks with interested locations and the investors behind them. As already practiced in the past, entry into the NBA requires the payment of an entry fee.
Initial estimates range from seven to ten billion dollars. That would scratch the previous record price of a franchise. Last year, the Los Angeles Lakers went over the counter for around eleven billion dollars.
Expansion to 32 teams already very likely
The big favorites for a franchise are Las Vegas and Seattle. Both are no strangers to the NBA universe. The casino paradise of Las Vegas already hosts the final tournament of the NBA Cup. Seattle, on the other hand, hosted the SuperSonics for decades before the franchise moved to Oklahoma City (now OKC Thunder) in 2008.
Once bids for the expansion have been received, the 30 current teams will be asked to vote again. A three-quarters majority (at least 23 of 30 teams in favor) is required for the bid to be accepted. However, according to ESPN, it is assumed in internal circles that the expansion to 32 teams is only a matter of time and no longer a question of “if”.