Energy drink giant Red Bull is weighing a bid for a new NBA franchise in Las Vegas, according to a bombshell report.
According to Bloomberg, talks are currently at an early stage internally, and price will be a considerable factor in any potential bid.
Vegas has long been touted as a potential destination for a new NBA team – with LeBron James among the most vocal backers – and this appears to be a potential route to making it happen.
And in February, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters that Sin City is ‘definitely on our list’ of potential new markets.
Red Bull already has a number of sports properties, both inside and outside the US. Beyond soccer teams like New York Red Bulls and RB Leipzig, the brand also has a successful Formula One team in Red Bull Racing, as well as a German hockey team, EHC München.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said Vegas is ‘definitely on our list’ of potential new cities
Red Bull already has a Formula One team (Pictured: driver Daniel Ricciardo)
A potential price for an NBA expansion franchise has not been revealed. In 2021, Silver said a reported figure of $2.5 billion for an expansion franchise felt ‘very low.’
Other reports have put that figure closer to $4 billion, which is about the league average for a single franchise, according to Sportico.
Red Bull, which lost founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, will have some competition for a franchise in Las Vegas.
In 2022, veteran NBA reporter Ric Bucher reported that James was in ‘pole position’ to acquire any expansion club in Sin City.
As Bucher explained on his podcast, league sources told him expansion clubs in Las Vegas and Seattle could pop up as early as 2025, as the NBA’s new media deal is set to start. James would be 40 at the time, an age when he could still be playing, but NBA rules prohibit anyone on a team roster from owning a stake in that club.
James has announced his intention to retire, but he has admitted to some interest in owning a team in Vegas.
‘I wanna own a team,’ James said in a clip from his HBO show in 2022. ‘Yeah, I want a team…I want a, yeah, I want a team in Vegas. Yeah, I want the team in Vegas.’
James is already a partner in the Fenway Sports Group, meaning he has minority stakes in several pro sports team through the firm, including MLB’s Boston Red Sox, the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, a NASCAR team, and Liverpool FC, which he originally invested with back in 2011.
The NBA has no current plans to add any expansion teams, but Silver described that scenario as ‘inevitable’ in 2021.
And although Las Vegas already has T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights play, there’s been talk of another NBA-centric arena on the horizon.
The Oak View Group, an international stadium developer, announced plans in March of 2022 to build a $3 billion sports and entertainment district just south of the Strip after acquiring 25 acres from the city of Las Vegas. The proposed 20,000-seat arena will cost close to $1 billion and is expected to be privately funded, an OVG spokesman told DailyMail.com at the time.
For comparison, T-Mobile Arena was finished in 2016 at a cost of $375 million in private funding. Meanwhile Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Raiders, was finished for $1.9 billion in 2020, thanks to $750 million in public funds from municipal bonds and hotel taxes.