NBA Commissioner Adam Silver updates Seattle expansion talks
NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 15: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media following the Board of Governors meetings on September 15, 2026 at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. (David Dow / NBAE / Getty Images)
The saga of potential NBA expansion continues.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver discussed where the league currently stands in their expansion discussions during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. Silver joined the show to discuss the league ahead of Tuesday's start of the 2026-27 NBA season.
The NBA has been exploring both Seattle and Las Vegas as potential expansion sites. Silver has previously said they want to have a decision on expansion by the end of the year.
"We're still a few seasons away from actual expansion taking place, but as you said – we've been public about the fact that we're looking closely at Las Vegas and Seattle," Silver said. "Las Vegas seems to have an insatiable appetite for sports and entertainment. Several groups now are thinking of even building a brand new arena in town, you know, which at least... the presentation is maybe the most spectacular arena ever. Seattle has a great arena, there is a great NBA tradition there. So we're looking closely at returning to Seattle. I've mentioned down the road maybe there's Mexico City – largest city in North America. A burgeoning, huge basketball base of fans in Mexico. A large Mexican-American population. So, a bunch of different opportunities out there. Discussions are ongoing about Las Vegas and Seattle right now."
The backstory:
The NBA Board of Governors voted in March to explore expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle exclusively. Kraken ownership led by Samantha Holloway has been at the forefront of the bidding process in Seattle, while multiple groups have been vying for the expected bid in Las Vegas.
Silver said in September that a decision on expansion is still on track by the end of the calendar year.
Las Vegas has been leading the discussions since there are multiple groups pitching to earn the bid. More variables are in place about who will own the group and where the team will play, especially if the winning group requires a new arena to be constructed.
Meanwhile, there appears to be only one truly legitimate bid from Seattle with the Kraken. According to Tim Booth of The Seattle Times, BlackSun Private Equity is attempting to pitch a bid that involves a new arena being built on land provided by the Tulalip Tribes near Marysville. However, it would seem extremely unlikely that an arena located 35 miles north of downtown Seattle would be a reasonable choice given its distance from the major population bases in the region.
The bidding war in Las Vegas will inevitably push the price higher than in Seattle, where the Kraken own the controlling stake in Climate Pledge Arena. Any secondary group looking to get the bid in Seattle would either need to negotiate a lease agreement with the Kraken – who would continue to own the revenue streams regarding the building at Climate Pledge Arena – or build a new arena of their own somewhere in the region.
According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Silver supposedly told the NBA's Board of Governors that expansion to Seattle is no longer a lock for expansion, raising Mexico City as a potential alternative. However, his comments to McAfee appear to allude to Mexico City being an option further into the future. The mentioning of Mexico City could simply be an attempt by the NBA to leverage the Kraken to up the price on their bid to be more in-line with the Las Vegas bids.
The Source: Information in this story comes from The Pat McAfee Show, ESPN.com, The Seattle Times and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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