The NBA plans to select the winning bid for owner of the Las Vegas expansion team “in the very near future.”
The franchise and new arena is expected to be sold for $12 billion to $13 billion. There are three finalist groups, according to ESPN: Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; and Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo.
The league will hold an official approval process by the end of December on two expansion teams, but Las Vegas is expected to be settled before Seattle. For one, Las Vegas has a more active bidding market that consists of higher offers.
In Seattle, there are no logistics of developing a new arena as Climate Pledge Arena is already a set home for the new team. Moreover, the Vegas runners-up may have interest in joining the Seattle bid process.
Nancy Walton Laurie is the daughter of Walmart co-founder James “Bud” Walton. She is married to Bill Laurie, the former owner of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. The couple resides in a suburb of Las Vegas and has a net worth of $17 billion, per Forbes.
Apostolopoulos showed interest in purchasing the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan in 2023, but the Canadian billionaire pivoted to buying the Washington Commanders. The NFL franchise was later sold to a group led by Josh Harris, Philadelphia 76ers owner.
Lasry is the former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and sold his stake in the franchise to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam at a valuation of $3.5 billion.
Colangelo, the former owner of the Phoenix Suns, began talking with Foley about teaming up with his Las Vegas Jacks group. Colangelo and Foley became partners because of the latter’s ties to the city and the Jacks’ plans for a new arena as well as the relationship equity with key league stakeholders.
