NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that the league plans to seriously explore expansion this summer, signaling a potential shift in the league’s long-term structure. Silver’s comments came during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, just days after he was initially asked about expansion ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers.
“There’s cities worth thinking about,” Silver said when asked if the NBA currently has a shortlist of potential expansion locations. While he acknowledged interest in multiple markets, he cautioned that expansion is not a guaranteed outcome.
“Let me begin by saying, it’s not obvious to me that we should expand,” Silver said. “I think it’s likely over time we will, and the reason I say it’s not obvious is because as a global business where something like two billion people will connect with us on social media, over a billion people over the course of the year will watch some portion of the game… adding another U.S. city arguably, it’s unclear as to how much growth will result in that.”
Dan Patrick: “I’m retiring in 3 years. Will we have [NBA] expansion in 3 years?”
Adam Silver: “I’m honestly not sure. … I don’t mean to tease people with this [but], this is the summer we’re going to look at it seriously.”
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Silver also noted that expansion carries both competitive and financial consequences.
“When you’re adding expansion franchises, you’re diluting your competition — let’s say we expand by two more teams that are going to be competing for those same players. And you’re diluting your economics to the extent that we have locked in television money now for the next decade, you have two more partners,” he said.
Adam Silver says NBA will explore expansion possibilities as summer talks approach
Despite those factors, Silver acknowledged that certain markets remain strong candidates for future teams.
“Having said that, I do believe certain markets could potentially be added into the NBA and that’s what we’re going to look at,” he said. “I think part of it is geographic, it’s a big country, making sure we’re represented all around the country and over time maybe there’s more that we can do in Canada, and Mexico City is a city that we’ve talked about before.”
Silver clarified that the league has not yet met with any specific cities, but confirmed that expansion will be a key topic at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas during the summer league in July.
“We haven’t taken any meetings with any cities,” Silver said. “We have a board meeting in Las Vegas around the summer league in July. I know we’re going to be talking about it, then.”
When Patrick asked whether the NBA would add teams within the next three years, Silver said the timeline remains uncertain.
“I’m honestly not sure,” Silver said. “Even if we were to announce we’re engaging in the process, it’s not clear to me at what moment they’d start playing. I don’t mean to tease people with this, [but] this is the summer we’re going to look at it seriously.”
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