Las Vegas expansion: Area15 arena pitch wins mayor’s backing as Kerr and Redick back a Vegas team

The race to host a Las Vegas NBA team is no longer only about who will own it. With the league closing in on a decision about expansion, developers are now competing over where the team would play, and two arena pitches surfaced this week, including one with the backing of Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley.

The timing matters. The NBA has said it wants to decide by the end of 2026 whether to add zero, one or two teams, with Las Vegas and Seattle the only markets under formal review. A final vote needs approval from 23 of the 30 current owners.

The Area15 pitch

Fisher Brothers, the New York real estate firm behind the Area15 entertainment complex a mile west of the Strip, has submitted an arena proposal to the NBA and says it has spoken with bid groups, without naming which ones. CEO Winston Fisher told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the company owns 80 acres in the city, 30 of them already developed as Area15. The arena would go on the remaining land between Area15 and Palace Station, just west of Interstate 15.

• Capacity: 18,000 to 20,000 seats, with room to change if a bid group wants a bigger or smaller building.
• Model: an arena-anchored district with restaurants, retail and entertainment around it. Fisher pointed to SoFi Stadium as the inspiration.
• Incentives: Fisher says about $140 million in tourism improvement district incentives are already in place, and that water, sewer and power upgrades around the site were finished recently.
• Ownership: the developers say they are open to a joint venture or another arrangement with whichever group wins the team.

Berkley backed the plan in a letter of support, calling the site “one of the premier development opportunities in the Las Vegas region.” She told KSNV she wants at least one major professional team to play within the city limits. The Raiders, Golden Knights and Aces all play outside them.

Resorts World makes its case too

Area15 is not the only site in the mix. Resorts World Las Vegas says it has met with the bidding groups about putting an arena on 42 acres it controls on the North Strip, near Wynn and Fontainebleau. Resorts World president Carlos Castro called that corridor the best location for a team. Local analysts have said there are about a dozen sites under discussion. Any of them would have to satisfy both the winning owner and the league, and that group would likely play at T-Mobile Arena while a new building goes up.

Three groups, one big price

Three finalist groups remain in the running for Las Vegas:

• Golden Knights owner Bill Foley with former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo.
• Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband, former Blues owner Bill Laurie.
• Former Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry with Canadian businessman Steve Apostolopoulos.

The expansion fee is reportedly expected to land between $12 billion and $13 billion, with another $2 billion to $3 billion for a new arena. The league hired PJT Partners to vet the bids. A person with knowledge of the process told the Review-Journal earlier this month that a winning Las Vegas group could be chosen within about a month, followed by a presentation to the Board of Governors. Both new teams are expected to start in 2028-29, though Las Vegas could slip to 2029-30 because of arena timelines. In Seattle, One Roof Sports and Entertainment remains the lead bidder.

Kerr and Redick are on board

The topic came up Tuesday when the Warriors and Lakers played a preseason game at T-Mobile Arena. Steve Kerr recalled taking Robert Sarver to see David Stern in 2004 to pitch a Las Vegas franchise, and Stern turned them down flat because of gambling. “Everything’s changed a lot since then,” Kerr said. He added that teams in Las Vegas and Seattle would help balance the league’s geography through realignment.

JJ Redick pointed to the crowds for the Aces and Golden Knights. “It’s a great support city,” the Lakers coach said. “So I would expect that if Vegas does get a team, this place will be rocking.”

For more on the league office’s 2026-27 agenda, see Adam Silver on NBA Europe talks with the EuroLeague and the smart ball for officiating, plus the 2026-27 key dates.