"Mexico City one day" - NBA commissioner Adam Silver teases 3rd new team alongside Las Vegas and Seattle while talking expansion
Ahead of Sunday's Dallas Mavericks versus Boston Celtics Game 2 NBA Finals matchup, NBA commissioner Adam Silver discussed the possibility of the league's expansion. Silver confirmed two speculated expansion team destinations, highlighting the potential of the NBA also adding a franchise outside of America and Canada.
The league hasn't expanded since 2004 when it increased to 30 teams. However, as it reportedly prepares to finalize its next media rights deal, rumors continue to escalate about it adding at least two more teams.
On Sunday, Silver joined NBC Sports Boston's "Celtics Pregame Live" show, touching on potential expansion locations. He named one former NBA city and two cities seeking their first teams.
"There's been some discussion about going back to Seattle, potentially," Silver said. "Las Vegas, no doubt, is very interested in a team. Mexico City one day."
Seattle was home to the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics for 41 seasons before being relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. Many have since called for the franchise's reinstatement due to its history (1979 NBA championship) and rabid fanbase.
Conversely, Las Vegas has long been a growing premier sports destination, already boasting NFL, NHL, WNBA and USL teams, with an MLB team on its way. Thus, the city eventually landing an NBA team appears to be a given.
Meanwhile, Mexico City has gained momentum as a potential expansion destination outside of the U.S. and Canada after successfully hosting numerous regular-season NBA games.
However, Silver added that several other North American cities are also interested in gaining expansion teams.
"But there's lots of other U.S. cities and Canadian cities, frankly, that have reached out to us to tell us they'd be interested," Silver said.
The NFL and NHL each already have 32 teams. So, it would likely be most logical for the NBA to add two more franchises for now. However, with such a high demand, that number could continue to grow in the coming years.
NBA expansion will depend on profitability of league's next media rights deal
As for the timing of the NBA's next expansion, Adam Silver noted that it will depend on the final terms of its upcoming media rights deal.
The league's current media rights deal expires after next season. Per The Wall Street Journal, it is on the verge of finalizing a massive 11-year, $76 billion contract with NBCUniversal, Disney and Amazon.
While Silver didn't mention the financial specifics, he expressed optimism that the deal would be lucrative enough to support expansion.
"We have to understand what our long-term media relationships are before we look to expansion," Silver said.
"We're in the process of wrapping up those deals now. They're going to be long-term deals. I'm hoping—we're not done yet—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."
Silver noted that "it's not preordained [the NBA will] expand," citing the potential for "dilution of talent." However, he added that he's confident the "league can sustain two more teams," given basketball's ever-growing global popularity.
So, while the destinations aren't certain, it looks like NBA fans can expect at least two new franchises to be added in the relatively near future.
Also Read: "Don't attribute it to 1 pick" - Adam Silver defends decision to not punish Dallas Mavericks beyond $750,000 fine for tanking