Adam Silver says NBA expansion decision on Seattle, Las Vegas coming in 2026

NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that the league will make a definitive decision on domestic expansion in 2026, ending years of speculation about whether the NBA will add new franchises.

Silver addressed the issue during a press conference ahead of the NBA Cup championship game on Wednesday, Dec. 17 (Philippine Standard Time), reiterating that the league continues to study expansion while carefully weighing its economic implications.

“I would say in terms of domestic expansion, that is something we are continuing to look at. It’s not a secret we are looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle. We have looked at other markets, as well. I would say I want to be sensitive there about this notion that we are somehow teasing these markets, because I know we have been talking about it for a while,” Silver said.

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The commissioner emphasized that adding teams is far more complex than simply identifying strong markets, noting that expansion would dilute ownership stakes across the league.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that Las Vegas and Seattle are still expansion candidates and he expects to have more clarity on whether domestic expansion will move forward sometime in 2026. pic.twitter.com/uXtyK3WfL4

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 17, 2025

“As I have said before, domestic expansion, as opposed to doing a new league in Europe, is selling equity in this current league. If you own 1/30 of this league, now you own 1/32 if you add two teams. So it’s a much more difficult economic analysis. In many ways, it requires predicting the future.

“I think now we are in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we will make a determination,” he added.

Discussion around NBA expansion has been ongoing for nearly five years, dating back to Silver’s comments ahead of the 2020–21 season. While no firm timeline had previously been set, Seattle and Las Vegas have consistently emerged as the leading candidates should the league choose to expand.

“I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities. Obviously, we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. We have been playing the summer league here for 20 years. We are playing our Cup games here, so we are very familiar with this market.

“I don’t have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team,” Silver concluded.

Beyond expansion, Silver also touched on other league initiatives, including the possibility of rotating the NBA Cup final to different venues in the future. The first three NBA Cup championship games have all been staged at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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