NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an interview during the summer league today: "Las Vegas is already like the 31st NBA team!" This remark once again ignited the discussion about the league's expansion, but at the same time, the $76 billion broadcasting contract has become a key factor for the bosses to hesitate, and the expansion plan may be slowed down as a result.

In the interview, Silver praised Las Vegas' contribution to the NBA, saying that it has become an indispensable part of the league by hosting many events such as the Summer League, Mid-Season Championship, and All-Star Game.

As early as the end of last year, well-known reporter Evan Sidery revealed that Las Vegas and Seattle were considered the only two candidate cities for expansion, which was almost "set in stone". Seattle, as the hometown of the former Supersonics, has a deep basketball background, while Las Vegas has become the "gold mine" of the NBA with its entertainment industry and global influence.

However, the latest report by David Aldridge, a reporter from The Athletic, poured cold water on the idea. Since the NBA has just signed a 10-year, $76 billion media rights agreement, many owners prefer to directly share the revenue rather than dilute it by introducing new teams.

The new agreement will take effect in the 2025-26 season, with ESPN, NBC and Amazon becoming the main broadcasters, and existing teams will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends each year.

According to the previous plan, if the expansion is successful, each new team will have to pay a $5 billion "entry fee", and the existing 30 teams will each receive $300 million in cash.

However, some small-market teams are worried that the addition of two new teams will dilute their broadcasting revenue and ticket revenue for a long time, especially if the new team is located in a commercial center like Las Vegas, which may further squeeze the living space of small and medium-sized ball markets.

In order to win the support of the owners, Silver proposed a plan of "30% of the revenue of the new team in the first five years to compensate the existing team", and considered canceling the East-West division and changing it to a 1-16 playoff game to solve the imbalance of "strong West and weak East". In addition, the new team may obtain the expansion draft pick + the No. 1 pick guarantee to accelerate the improvement of competitiveness.

Despite many obstacles, Silver still insisted on pushing the board to vote in July. If passed, the 2027-28 season may usher in the 31st and 32nd teams. Whether the gambling city can officially "turn official" will become the biggest business suspense of the NBA in the next decade!

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