Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip. (Resorts World)
Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip. (Resorts World)
Editor’s note: This is a regular Sunday feature to wrap up news and developments in the NBA’s possible expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle by the 2028-29 season.
As the NBA expansion bid process moves along without an announced timeline on when a group will be awarded a Las Vegas franchise, the arena where a team will play is also up in the air.
Over a dozen NBA-ready arena projects have been floated over the past few years, with just a handful of those being serious contenders for the winning bid group.
One of those legitimate locations lies on the North Strip at the five-year-old Resorts World Las Vegas.
Leaders at Resorts World have met with bid groups, according to a company spokesperson. Specific details have not been divulged.
Carlos Castro, president and chief financial officer of Resorts World Las Vegas, fully believes the best landing spot for a team is on the North Strip.
“The North Strip is where the next chapter of Las Vegas is being written, and we believe strongly that an NBA arena belongs here,” Castro said in a statement provided to the Review-Journal. “Between Resorts World, Wynn and Fontainebleau, this corridor has become a true luxury resort and entertainment destination, and there’s still tremendous opportunity ahead.
“Resorts World is ready to be a big part of that. We have 42 available acres with access to both the Strip and Sammy Davis Jr. Drive, plus a $4.3 billion integrated resort and the infrastructure already in place to support a project of this scale. An NBA team and a new arena would be the next great driver of visitation to this city.”
At a news conference following NBA Board of Governors meetings last month, league Commissioner Adam Silver noted that a Las Vegas arena presentation was provided to the existing team owners. Silver said that a “new modern entertainment palace” could be built in Las Vegas as part of expansion.
Having the arena land on the North Strip could breathe new life into the area, a potential world-class facility that will host not only 41 NBA regular-season games per season but other large sporting and special events and concerts. The arena could pay dividends for all properties located on Las Vegas Boulevard between Spring Mountain Road and Sahara Avenue.
Three finalist groups remain in the hunt for a Las Vegas franchise including one led by Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill Laurie; one including Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and former Phoenix Sun owner Jerry Colangelo; and a group featuring former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry and Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos.
The NBA says it intends to have the expansion bid process wrapped up by the end of the year with the possibility of new franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle beginning play as soon as the 2028-29 season.