Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has given the first public hint about what a Las Vegas NBA expansion franchise might be called — if he wins the bid. Speaking to CNBC's Alex Sherman, the 81-year-old billionaire said he envisions a team name rooted in what he calls "the warrior class."
"We'll go through a process with advisors and develop an exciting name," Foley said. "We want a name somehow associated with the warrior class — we have the Golden Knights and we have the Nighthawks, our indoor football team, and we have the Silver Knights, our AHL team. I'm not saying 'Knight' would be in the name, but I'm a real believer in creating an atmosphere and a situation among the players and the fans that they have a team that they can root for, this part of the warrior class that never gives in."
Foley is one of four publicly declared ownership groups seeking the Las Vegas NBA franchise. He has proposed investing $300–400 million in T-Mobile Arena — where his Golden Knights play — to prepare it for the NBA, including expanding capacity by approximately 1,000 seats, building a new business office, and constructing a practice facility.
The other known bidders are: a consortium led by former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner; the Las Vegas Jacks group fronted by basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Colangelo, former Turner Sports executive David Levy, and Magic Johnson; and Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill Laurie.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said at the Summer League in Las Vegas on July 14 that the interest from ownership groups has been encouraging. "It gives me a lot of confidence to see, firsthand, the amount of interest in the game in Las Vegas," Silver said. "Multiple very serious groups are in the process of presenting plans to our bankers. It's music to my ears."
The NBA is targeting a decision on Las Vegas ownership by the end of 2026, with the expansion franchise expected to begin play in the 2028–29 season. The franchise fee is projected at $7–10 billion. Seattle, by contrast, has had only one publicly declared bidder — the Samantha Holloway-led group — though Silver has cautioned that most interested parties have not gone public.