During the past year, many rumors have surfaced around the NBA suggesting that LeBron James was gathering up investments to acquire a potential NBA franchise in Las Vegas. As the In-Season Tournament is being held at the Nevada city, new reports have confirmed that Fenway Sports Group is making the charge alongside the Lakers superstar.
Sources reveal that this new NBA team has been on their agenda for as back as 2021, with chairman Tom Werner and Boston Red Sox president Sam Kennedy leading the proposal.
LeBron has sealed a partnership with both FSG and RedBird for a while now, as the relationship only seems to grow exponentially. The 38-year-old struck a lifetime deal with the company back in March, as the management group looks to market the superstar globally.
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RedBird Capital’s Gerry Cardinale has officially confirmed the long-rumoured idea that he, LeBron James, and Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are working on bringing an NBA team to Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/4aSuAoaWkx
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Another executive who hinted at the Las Vegas acquisition was Gerry Cardinale, the founder and main associate of RedBird Capital Partners.
“We’re looking at bringing an NBA expansion team here in partnership with LeBron and Fenway Sports Group,” confirmed Cardinale.
The executive hopes the proposal will be enough. “We started this project three years ago. The price talk on an NBA team three years ago was $3bn. The price talk today on an NBA expansion team is $5.5bn to $6bn. I’m not sure I can make that work,” he revealed.
With this project, Cardinale expects to make an impact in the direction that North American sports are heading into: “Maybe we’re hitting that inflection point, and it may mean that, if we want to see a continued linear progression in these valuations, maybe it’s a different type of capital [that needs to come in].
“Maybe I’m evolved out of existence, and maybe now I’m handing the baton over to a sovereign [wealth fund] or to a lower cost-of-capital provider. It could be that we’ve reached that point,” he explained.
In-Season Tournament players and coaches agree that Las Vegas has what it takes to someday become and NBA city
After losing to the Pacers in the In-Season Tournament, Bucks All-Star Damian Lillard appreciated the environment surrounding the competition in Las Vegas.
“Just all of the different things that they have made of it, and you get to be a part of it and you’re like, man, this is pretty special,” he expressed. “I think the atmosphere was what it was. When I played USAB, that’s kind of how I felt, just like the energy in the building felt like USA Basketball in the summer because the crowd was just so neutral. But it was a good experience.”
According to Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, a potential NBA franchise in Las Vegas seems pretty obvious by this point.
“This is like the worst-kept secret in the world, isn’t it, that this is eventually going to be an NBA city?” he claimed. “We’ve been coming here for so many years for Summer League. … I think the turnout today shows that there’s certainly interest in the NBA game. I believe that the NBA can make just about anything happen. The In-Season Tournament is something that there were many, many skeptics about for many years, and right now it’s all the buzz.”
