Golden Knights owner Bill Foley launches NBA expansion bid for Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has officially launched a bid to bring an NBA expansion team to Las Vegas, he announced Monday.

Foley has hired Morgan Stanley & Co. to be his exclusive financial adviser as he looks to build an ownership group around his existing Southern Nevada sports holdings, he said in a statement released by the Golden Knights, his highly successful NHL team.

“Las Vegas has earned its place among the great sports cities in America, and an NBA team belongs here,” Foley said in a statement. “We built the Golden Knights into a championship organization from the ground up, and we are prepared to do it again – with the same standard, the same commitment to this community, and the same insistence on winning.

“We have the market, a proven world-class arena, and a best-in-class organization in place. Our intention is to be ready the day the NBA is ready.”

Foley also has hired Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as his legal counsel to assist in his NBA expansion bid.

Expansion part two

The NBA announced in March that it was formally exploring expansion and that Las Vegas and Seattle were the two markets they were reviewing for potential teams.

Gov. Joe Lombardo has been in contact with Foley and other interested parties in NBA expansion.

“The Governor regularly speaks with Bill and is grateful for his dedication to Southern Nevada and appreciates how he has built the Golden Knights into one of the premier franchises in professional sports,” a Lombardo spokesperson said.

Foley’s announcement comes 10 years to the day of the NHL awarding him an expansion franchise that would became the Knights.

The Knights made the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural 2017-18 NHL season, losing to the Washington Capitals. The team made Foley’s prediction of winning a Cup in six years true in 2023, when the Knights beat the Florida Panthers in the Cup Final that season. The Knights continued their on-ice success this year, making the Cup Final for the third time in the franchise’s nine-year history, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Foley emphasized his respect for the NBA’s expansion process and said his group would operate on the league’s expansion timeline, should its board of governors choose to expand.

“This is the NBA’s decision to make,” Foley said. “Our job is to provide the league a Las Vegas option that is ready, credible, and built to last.”

T-Mobile Arena

Foley has previously stated that he would like a potential NBA expansion team to play at T-Mobile Arena and would make $300 million in renovations to the 10-year-old arena to do so. Aside from seating upgrades, part of the renovation could include tearing out the West VIP parking lot and building a development for an NBA team, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In March, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the NBA expansion announcement in New York that he would have to see what was in store for T-Mobile Arena in order for him to know if it would be a viable home for an expansion franchise.

“I’ve been to games and hockey games in that arena. I’ve been to some basketball games in that arena. It’s a fantastic facility,” Silver said at the time. “But I think that will be part of our process, better understanding where T-Mobile stands, if they have any plans to make any changes, and probably most importantly, what an ownership group may be thinking, about where the optimal place is to play in Las Vegas.”

Expansion price

Foley’s net worth is $2.6 billion, according to Forbes. The NBA expansion fee is reportedly expected to be between $7 billion and $10 billion. Foley wouldn’t be alone in his pursuit of an NBA team, as his group would include a limited number of strategic and minority partners that would adhere to the league’s ownership policy, the news release noted.

Multiple groups

Foley isn’t the only one looking to land an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas. The MAGI, led by basketball hall of famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson announced in March that it was in pursuit of landing a team. Johnson and members of his group in February met with several area dignitaries, including Lombardo, in relation to netting a Las Vegas NBA team.

Aside from the Foley- and Johnson-led groups, there are at least two other ownership groups interested in bidding on a Las Vegas expansion team, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Review-Journal.

Information regarding who is involved with the other groups wasn’t available, but a source unauthorized to speak noted that each group had a similar composition, including somebody with NBA ties, a person from a major developer and support from people with deep pockets.

Lombardo is active in the NBA expansion conversations and is doing everything he can to let it be known the league would fit right in with the Southern Nevada pro sports landscape.

“As the process plays out, Governor Lombardo and his team are in regular communication with NBA league officials, local stakeholders, and a number of ownership groups and remains confident that Las Vegas is the perfect spot for an NBA expansion,” a Lombardo spokesperson said.

The NBA expects to have an answer on if it plans to expand by the end of this year. The next event where Silver is expected to address the topic is following the Board of Governors meetings set to occur next month in Las Vegas during NBA Summer League.

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