King James To NBA Commish Silver: Get An NBA Team In Las Vegas

October 6, 2022October 6, 2022 Alan Snel Adam Silver, LeBron James

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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer

The NBA is playing preseason games in the Middle East Thursday and Saturday. The association has plans to play an exhibition game in India.

And one day, the NBA might just have a team in the Las Vegas market.

LeBron James, in Las Vegas for Lakers preseason action, advised NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about helping approve an NBA team in the Las Vegas market: “So, I want the team here, Adam. Thank you.”

LVSportsBiz.com has reported on James’ previous interest in the Las Vegas market hosting an NBA team and has noted previously that James has an investment stake in the Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and even the Liverpool soccer club in England.

Keep in mind, an arena development company, Oak View Group, has announced plans to build an NBA arena as part of a $3 billion hotel-casino/arena/amphitheater proposal at Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road (northwest corner)./

The NBA already has its 30-team summer league event in Las Vegas every July.

One day, the NBA will have a team here in Las Vegas. But don’t expect a team to be approved until a collective bargaining and TV rights deals are done during the next two years or so.

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.

July 5, 2021

LVSPORTSBIZ.COM, launched June 2017: We are a digital magazine providing market-leading news, intelligence, enterprise and breaking info on Las Vegas’ sports/stadium industry. Our stories are quoted nationally and we set the sportsbiz news agenda in Las Vegas. Publisher Alan Snel has reported on the business of sports and stadiums in Denver, South Florida, Seattle and Tampa besides Las Vegas and is considered a national authority on the topic.

ADVERTISEMENT: Please shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip. Jay’s Market is the official presenting sponsor of LVSportBiz.com’s stories.

Hirings and Firings:

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To contact LVSportsBiz.com Publisher Alan Snel or buy his book, Bicycle Man: Life of Journeys, email him at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com

LVSportsBiz number for 2024: $1,178,161,041. That’s the amount of debt Las Vegas (actually, Clark County) owes for its public share of building the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.