North, south Strip property owners pitch sites for potential Las Vegas NBA arena

Editor’s note: This is a regular Sunday feature to wrap up news and developments in the NBA’s possible expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle by the 2028-29 season.

As the Las Vegas NBA expansion process draws out toward a decision on which group will own the team, where the franchise actually will play also is still up in the air.

There have been over a dozen sites and projects floated over the past few years, with only a handful of those being seriously considered. The majority are located in Clark County jurisdiction, outside of a project pitched by Area15 owner Fisher Brothers, which is in the city of Las Vegas jurisdiction.

Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft said the NBA being added to the county makes all the sense in the world.

“I continue to meet with all stakeholders, potential ownership groups, potential controlling interests in sites,” Naft told the Review-Journal. “I continue to express what I believe from Clark County’s perspective and our locals perspective would be the best options for both potential venues and ownership teams and site selection. And we’ll continue to work with the NBA, but at the end of the day, the owners have a decision to make.

“I know they’ll come together, make the right decision for both their interests, but more importantly to me, for this community’s sake. And we will get an ownership group that wants to be part of this community, invest in this community, support the work that we’re doing at Clark County, and a site that will lift up and enhance both the real estate around it, but the economic investment that’s been made in the surrounding area.”

A number of sites in the county’s jurisdiction have been proposed.

North strip

Resorts World Las Vegas, land on the Strip located next to the Las Vegas Convention Center and the LVXP site, located next to Sahara Las Vegas.

Resorts World president and chief financial officer Carlos Castro maintains that the north Strip property is the ideal landing spot for a new arena.

“Our position remains unchanged: an NBA arena belongs on the North Strip, and Resorts World is ready to make that a reality,” Castro said in a statement to the Review-Journal. “Our 42 available acres offer fans a one-of-a-kind experience: convenient access from across the Las Vegas Valley, Strip visibility and frontage, more than 7,200 parking spaces in three garages , our own Vegas Loop station, and a $4.3 billion world-class resort just steps away. No other site in Las Vegas comes close to that combination of fan-friendly assets. We respect the process being led by the NBA and PJT Partners, and we’re excited about what an NBA team could mean for the Las Vegas community and the North Strip.”

South strip

On the south Strip there are possible sites, including the Bali Hai Golf Club, which the county is actively looking to sell, and the proposed Diamond Arena site on land located across the Strip from the Mandalay Bay.

Diamond Arena spokesperson Tom Letizia said its site makes the most sense as it would be located in proximity of the other major event centers on and around the Strip, including Allegiant Stadium, T-Mobile Arena and the Athletics ballpark, which is scheduled to open in 2028.

“The South Strip has already demonstrated what a major sports district can be,” Letizia said. “Diamond Arena would put the NBA in an established resort and entertainment corridor, with a substantial hotel base nearby and a transportation plan designed to support its growth.”

New road

Chetak Development, who owns the land where the Diamond Arena would go, is also proposing the modification of the Las Vegas Boulevard/Russell Road intersection, which would add a new Strop bypass road. The road would run from the Las Vegas Boulevard/Russell intersection to behind the Diamond Arena site, the A’s ballpark and to Koval Lane.

Clark County commissioner Jim Gibson, whose district includes the south Strip, originally backed the idea, but has since pulled back on that support.

“Conversations related to the roadway concept proposed by Chetak are on pause until a determination has been made regarding the location of a potential NBA arena,” Gibson said in a statement to the Review-Journal.

Down to three

Three groups still remain in the hunt for a Las Vegas NBA team. They include one led by Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie, her husband Bill Laurie and Silver Lake co-CEO and Raiders minority owner Egon Durban. Another group features Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangleo. The final group features former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry and Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos.

The Las Vegas expansion bid price is expected to be at least $10 billion, on top of an additional $2 billion to $3 billion to build a new arena. The NBA and investment bank PJT Partners plan to have the expansion process wrapped up by the end of the year. The Las Vegas bid group is tracking to be chosen in November.

The Lasry group was reportedly out of the race, but Lasry took to CNBC this week to publicly state they remained active in the bid process. Lasry did note that the group’s bid of between $9 billion and $10 billion was below other bids.

“So, we bid, we’ve been told by the NBA that we’re one of two or three of the finalists,” Lasry said in CNBC. “So we’re going through the documentation. I think the other site’s higher, but I don’t really know.”

Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.