Nba Expansion Team Cities

With commissioner adam silver saying the nba could look toward expansion what cities should get a team.

Nba expansion team cities. So understanding that even a one percent chance is still a chance let s take a look at 14 cities that might one day become nba footholds franchises the current owners would gladly split the revenue pie with because it s a slam. Still virginia s capital isn t close enough to charlotte or washington d c to poach a ton of fans and it would be the only major pro team in town. The city was home to the successful aba franchise the kentucky colonels winners of the 1975 aba finals.

As reported by josh coffman of wave 3 news in december 2018 issel sees the cost to get an nba expansion team in louisville would be around 1 4 billion which would include the expansion fee. Logistically it could be a struggle to have a full time nba team there with only one nba city within a two hour. It s one of the best college sports towns in america and home to both the louisville cardinals and kentucky wildcats.

The most recent examples of the expansion of the nba are the charlotte hornets and miami heat in 1988 minnesota timberwolves and orlando magic in 1989 toronto raptors and vancouver grizzlies in 1995 who relocated to memphis in 2001 and new orleans pelicans in 2002. Delhi is the largest metropolitan area in india and a top 3 largest city in asia. This is an nba sweet spot.

And although nba commissioner adam silver has stated the nba isn t engaging in expanding to 32 teams or beyond that doesn t mean it s a closed case. It s almost impossible to imagine the nba expanding without returning to seattle who saw their supersonics relocate to become the oklahoma city thunder in 2008. The cardinals home arena kfc yum.

Las vegas seems like a good bet for some nba action and everyone wants a team back in. Louisville is naturally a basketball city making it ideal for the next nba team. The league almost returned to the pacific northwest in 2013 when the sacramento kings were up for sale though they ended up remaining in california.

Even though the league plays in a few smaller cities hello sacramento and salt lake city richmond might be a little too small for nba expansion. Mexico city has an enormous arena 22 300 seats and experience hosting nba games. Most importantly it s one of the bigger american cities without a big four pro sports team.