With the NBA Finals two games in already, people will start to turn to the off-season and the 2024-2025 NBA season soon. The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks were able to outlast 28 teams to reach the 2024 NBA Finals however, that number may increase soon.
Adam Silver before game two of the NBA Finals, joined NBC Sports Boston Celtics Pregame Live and confirmed that the league will consider adding expansion teams, but they will do so after they finalize the new media right deals. The only question that remains is, how many teams will the NBA add when and if they choose to expand?
Adam Silver on When The NBA Will Look to Add Expansion Teams
“Can you give us a sneak peek?” 😂
Adam Silver drops some teasers on possible NBA expansion cities 👀
The cities he said were Seattle, Las Vegas and Mexico City pic.twitter.com/fF3gN6qnRT
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 9, 2024
With the current NBA media rights deal expiring after the 2024-2025 season, the NBA is in deep negotiations with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon. This new deal that the league is working on could bring in about $76 billion over the next 11 years. Other pro sports leagues like the NFL and NHL already have 32 teams, so it would make sense for the NBA to add more expansion teams soon. Silver did state that adding teams isn’t a given but considering the new influx of money from the new deal, it would be the logical next step.
“We have to understand what our long-term media relationships are before we look to expansion. We’re in the process of wrapping up those deals now” Silver told co-hosts Tom Giles, Eddie House, and Brian Scalabrine. “They’re going to be long-term deals. I’m hoping, we’re not done yet, but they’ll be successful in terms of generating more money for the league and the teams and then we’ll be in a position to look at expansion.”
Potential Expansion Cities for The NBA
If the NBA does choose to expand what are potential cities they can look to? The two cities that have seemed to be the frontrunners for any potential expansion have been Seattle and Las Vegas. Mexico City could also be in play as the NBA has played at least one game there in every season since the 2016-2017 season, besides the 2020-2021 season due to the COVID pandemic. Silver also mentioned that many U.S. cities and Canadian cities have reached out with interest in having an NBA team. With the Toronto Raptors being the only international team the NBA has, adding another one could be enticing for the NBA to look at. There are a lot of different options the NBA will look at for adding expansion teams.
“It’s not preordained that we’ll expand,” Silver said.”I’ve said it before, you’ve got to look at the dilution, potentially, of talent, but there’s so much great basketball being played around the world. I don’t think there’s any doubt that over time, this league can sustain two more teams. And there’s interest in the market, so once we finish our media deals, we’ll turn our attention to that.”
The Last Word
If the NBA does expand the most likely outcome would be for them to add two more teams to bring the total to 32, and for the expansion teams to bring back the Seattle Supersonics and to add a team in Vegas. The only way those two cities aren’t the ones getting an expansion team is if the league feels there is another US city that is better suited for an NBA team or if they choose to go the international route. If you are an NBA fan, you should be excited about the future of the NBA with the new media rights deal and the potential of expansion teams coming soon.
