It took the American sports world decades to decide that Las Vegas was a viable spot for sports franchises. This is a country where market size and TV share have always been the key driving forces behind any expansion or relocation plans. There have been NBA Vegas Odds available for years, but the league has tried to keep a distance from Vegas in general.
The thing is, those metrics are not really all that relevant in the 2020s. People aren’t relying on their local TV station to carry sporting events because the number of streams online – legal or not – have made viewing anything possible.
Metro size is another metric that never should have been applied to Vegas. Sure, the city isn’t that big, but this is also a city with the most hotel rooms in the world and an array of restaurant and entertainment options that makes it a must-visit.
Gambling was, of course, the other major issue in Vegas expansion. The NHL took the plunge with the Golden Knights and the move was an immediate success. The same is true for the NFL, with the Las Vegas Raiders playing in a state-of-the-art stadium and gaining legions of fans (worldwide) by the season.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the NBA and MLB want in. The MLB has an obvious option, with the Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas seeming all but inevitable at this point. It works both geographically – there wouldn’t need to be a division shift – and the As desperately want out of Oakland to find a new ballpark.
The NBA, however, is a little trickier.
The league clearly wants a Vegas franchise. The Summer League already takes place in Sin City, which is seen as the precursor to a team locating there. Two major issues seem to stand in the way currently.
No one wants to move
When you look at the league, there just aren’t that many options for teams wanting to leave their city or vice versa. Possible options include the LA Clippers (LA will always be a Laker town), Oklahoma City (they struggle to keep marquee players but moving them so soon after location in OKC would make the league look weak), and Sacramento (a team in a small market that, unlike Vegas, doesn’t attract tourists.
Seattle
The NBA would be vilified if they moved a team to Las Vegas before putting one in Seattle. Nobody outside of Oklahoma has forgiven the league for the Sonics leaving the Emerald City and Seattle has basically been promised a new NBA team since the day the move occurred. Going back on that word would drown the league in negative publicity.
The likely outcome of this is eventual expansion into both markets. The league is currently set at 30 teams and the NFL has shown that 32 is just about the best number possible for scheduling purposes. When this expansion would take place is TBD, but with their current domestic TV deal expiring in 2024/25 it feels like there is no time like the present.
