Is the NBA expanding the number of teams in the league?

After much debate, the NBA finally seems to be open to talk about expansion. Adam Silver, the league’s commissioner, confirmed at a press conference that the competition will discuss internally the possibility of bringing in new teams to compete.

However, the league must first close the multi-million dollar deal for the television rights for the next decade. Although the competition’s board has already approved the 11-year, $76 billion deal, according to The Athletic, it is not yet finalised.

NBA set to consider expansion

“We haven’t closed the TV rights deal yet, but once we do, we’ll consider expansion,” Silver said. “I would say it’s a little more complicated than is sometimes suggested. Because, for example, if we think about the immediate deals, once they’re completed, when new partners come on board, the amount to be received is less. Sometimes it looks like we’re printing money when we expand, but it’s really no different than selling shares in your business.”

The debate over whether or not to expand will begin “starting this fall,” according to Silver, although the big question now is which markets will be tasked with hosting those new franchises.

“Should we expand?” he asked. “And if we did, how many teams should we expand and in what markets?” reported The Athletic. So far, NBC and Amazon Prime have been confirmed to enter as new broadcasters alongside ABC and ESPN.

As for expansion, it is a conversation that began to take place at the end of 2023, when the most interesting markets began to be evaluated by the governing body.

At that time, cities such as Seattle and Las Vegas won the race, although Silver later included Mexico City as another potential candidate, already thinking of expanding the size of the competition, as happened with Toronto.