Las Vegas pitches 20-acre plot for NBA team’s new arena to be part of $4.3billion mega sports site
Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley is all in on bringing an NBA franchise to Sin City.
The Association’s Board of Governors voted last month to approve exploring the addition of new franchises in both Vegas and Seattle, with plans to make a decision by the end of the year.
No NBA team has ever called Sin City home, but basketball has recently increased its presence in Nevada, through the Summer League and the NBA Cup.
The three-time WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces have also played in the shadow of the iconic strip since relocating from San Antonio in 2018.
With the NBA now ready to explore an expansion to 32 teams, Mayor Berkley is doing everything possible to secure a new team, with the promise of turning Vegas into a multi-billion dollar sporting paradise.
Vegas mayor touts 20-acre plot for new NBA arena
“Next week I have Zoom meeting with Adam Silver, who’s the head of the NBA and I want to welcome him, tell him about my basketball past, and I just know this is going to be so extraordinary for our city,” Berkley said during a news conference last Thursday.
She plans to pitch a site in downtown that would be a perfect fit for an NBA arena, and has noted that Clark County has become a hub of pro sports action in the United States.
The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights play at T-Mobile Arena, the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL compete down the road at Allegiant Stadium, while the MLB’s relocating Athletics franchise will soon to call a $2billion ballpark home at the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
Those three facilities were built at a combined cost of $4.3bn, and Mayor Berkley believes there’s space for a new NBA venue in the downtown Vegas area – just six miles north.
“I know they ware considering a number of locations, I’m not sure they are considering a location in Las Vegas; they’re all in the county. I don’t have a problem with that,” Berkley said of the NBA.
“Whatever is happening in the county with T-Mobile, or Allegiant — a fabulous, fabulous stadium — and what’s going to happen with the A’s and their stadium on Trop.
“We have an alternative, and I would like to propose it to them (NBA) to see if they would even come down and see it for themselves.”
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the site Mayor Berkley pitched is a 20-acre plot located near City Hall, by the World Market Center.
It’s around five miles north of the iconic Strip, and would put an expansion team at the heart of downtown.
Las Vegas primed for all four major league teams with NBA arrival
Mayor Berkley concluded of the site: “It’s near a freeway, it won’t be as congested (as) on the Strip.
“It’s an alternative that they may want to examine, and I’m not sure that anybody has proposed it yet.”
Mayor Berkley has not yet met with Commissioner Silver, but plans to invite him to her office the next time he visits the area.
She told reporters that when she was younger, she never imagined pro sports in Southern Nevada — but Vegas is now primed to have all four major US leagues, and other minor league teams, on its doorstep.
A final decision on the NBA’s expansion teams are expected by the end of 2026, and only then will any new arena site be officially announced.
If all goes well, expansion teams could begin playing in the 2028-29 season at the earliest.
“It can only do good for the city,” Mayor Berkley concluded of exploring a site in Vegas.
“I think that this is a marriage that’s going to be made in heaven.”
Stay up to date with the latest from NBA across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
