What new franchises can come to the league?

The NBA a new season has started. It does so under the paradigm established by the coronavirus pandemic and eagerly awaiting the vaccine that allows fans to return to the pavilions. The NBA looks to the future and looks for a way to give the league an economic boost that fixes the hole created by the Covid in the last year. It will be the priority of Adam Silver, the commissioner of the competition, who does not rule out something that was unthinkable until now.

The NBA could expand. Not globally, but within the league itself. That the Conferences grow, something that they already calculate would mean an income of more than 1,000 million dollars that would help the financial activity of the teams. It is not something imminent or extremely urgent, so it will be discussed throughout the season. But the expansion of the NBA is already on the table.

“I have always said that it is the destiny of the competition, to expand at some point. This situation has made us dust off some analysis on the economic and competitive impact of a possible expansion. We are spending more time than before the pandemic. We highly value that there are new markets that are interested in having an NBA franchise “, Silver acknowledged in the presentation of the season.

An NBA of 32

There are several factors to study, not just the income that an expansion would bring. Would an NBA with 32 teams (16 per conference) be good? Would it be beneficial or detrimental to the competitiveness of the league? They wonder: “With 30 teams we don’t have everyone at the highest competitive level, at least in terms of fighting for the title. And one of our goals is always to create the strongest competition possible. key points of a possible expansion. It is something economical, but also competitive. So we will continue studying it, “acknowledged Silver.

The NBA had only eight teams in the mid-1950s, when the league began to consolidate, and from there it began to grow. Its last expansion, yes, occurred almost 20 years ago, in 2020. Then it was agreed to expand the league to 30 teams and the Charlotte Bobcats, current Charlotte Hornets, who started playing in 2004. Since then they have remained the same with some change of name and location.

Having a franchise in the NBA is something that many cities in the state United and Canada. Therefore, if the doors are opened to new teams (the logical thing would be two more, to reach 32) there would be no shortage of candidates. They come in all colors and with more or less striking proposals depending on the territory.

Seattle, favorita

The top favorite is one: the city of Seattle. It is one of the largest cities in the country and, in addition, it knows what it is to have a team in the NBA: the Seattle SuperSonics, which in 2008 moved to Oklahoma City to found the Thunder. If the Sonics (if so called) return, they would already have the KeyArena of almost 18,000 spectators, a pavilion at the height, an essential condition to have a franchise.

But Seattle is not the only city that has already had an NBA team and wants to ‘come back’. In the list there are cities like Vancouver, in Canada, which was the home of the current Memphis Grizzlies between 1995 and 2001, or San Diego, house of the Rockets (now in Houston) between 1967 and 1971. It is also said that Kansas City, which had the Kansas City Kings (now Sacramento Kings) between 1975 and 1985, I would be interested.

The NBA, in Las Vegas?

Finally, there are cities that until now have not had an NBA franchise and want to bring the league to them. This is where another of the great proposals appears: The Vegas, which has already taken the NBA at specific times to its territory and even proposed that this year’s bubble be mounted there. Montreal (Canada), Pittsburgh, Hampton Roads and Mexico City, the latter with almost no options, complete the list of candidates.

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