The chaos unfolding in Las Vegas may be Seattle's best friend.
As of this week, at least four separate ownership groups have publicly entered the race for a Las Vegas NBA franchise — creating what Sports Business Journal described as a "traffic jam of potential suitors" with "varying levels of legitimacy and financial means." The competition is fierce, the timelines are murky, and the NBA faces the prospect of having to adjudicate a messy multi-party bidding war before it can even vote on expansion.
Seattle, by contrast, has remained a comparatively clean process — at least publicly. One Roof Sports and Entertainment, led by Samantha Holloway, has been the only declared bidder, with a clear arena solution in Climate Pledge and established financial advisers in JPMorgan Chase and Moelis & Co.
The Staggering Scenario
Multiple analysts and reporters covering the expansion process have raised the possibility that the NBA may choose to stagger the two franchises rather than award both simultaneously. Under this scenario, Seattle would receive its franchise first — given the cleaner ownership picture and ready-made arena — while Las Vegas works through its competitive bidding process.
"At some point, the NBA may have to choose that if it is moving ahead on expansion, the best decision may be to stagger the teams and bring Seattle on board first while Las Vegas gets itself sorted out," the Seattle Times reported on July 13.
Silver's Curveball
However, Silver's Tuesday revelation that Seattle also has undisclosed competing groups complicates that narrative. If there are indeed multiple Seattle groups quietly competing, the process there may not be as simple as it appeared.
Still, the fundamental arena advantage remains. Climate Pledge Arena is NBA-ready today. Any new Seattle group that doesn't have access to that venue faces a potentially insurmountable financial hurdle — the combined cost of an expansion fee plus a new arena could exceed $10 billion.
What Comes Next
The September Board of Governors meeting is now the key date on the calendar. Silver has said he hopes to finalize the expansion decision before year-end 2026, with a target of the 2028-29 season for new teams to begin play.