NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday the league is considering alternate sites to stage the NBA Cup final in future seasons.
That could include moving the game outside of Las Vegas — and perhaps playing the championship game in a college venue.
“We’ve loved our experience in Vegas,” Silver said in an appearance on the NBA on Prime pregame show. “We’re talking with Amazon Prime about whether it makes sense to maybe go to some unique locations for the final game. They’ve suggested, for example, some storied college arenas. So we’re just looking at other ways to do this.”
Commissioner Adam Silver reveals plans to possibly target other locations for future Emirates NBA Cup competition games 👀 pic.twitter.com/03uhqq0dkI
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) December 17, 2025
After signing three one-year contracts to hold the semifinals and finals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the first three seasons of this competition, there is no deal in place for the NBA Cup to return to Las Vegas next season.
In September, the league announced that semifinal games in future seasons would be at home arenas rather than at a neutral site. Silver said the league went with neutral-site semifinals initially because teams were worried they wouldn’t be able to sell tickets to a semifinal game. Now that there is fan interest, Silver said, teams believe they can profit from hosting NBA Cup semifinal games.
However, the NBA and Prime still want the championship at a neutral site, ideally in a fuller and louder arena than the first three seasons in Las Vegas.
Hosting the games in a college arena would be a unique approach. It’s not uncommon for teams to play preseason games in college arenas. For example, Rupp Arena at the University of Kentucky hosted preseason games in 2015 and 2016. In both years, the teams featured players who played at Kentucky: John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. There is usually at least one preseason game in a college arena every preseason.
It’s not unprecedented for NBA teams to play a regular-season game at a college arena either. Phoenix and San Antonio played one at the University of Texas in February. Kevin Durant, who played for Phoenix last season, played one college season for Texas.
The NBA and Las Vegas have been linked for many years. A summer league has been held in the city annually since 2004, and Team USA basketball also trains in Las Vegas — though sources close to the program said it could look for a new location to train for 2027 FIBA World Cup and and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. While a city might want to propose hosting the NBA Cup final, the league could stick with Las Vegas and allow the event to grow as it did with Las Vegas Summer League, which has become a signature event for the league that many veterans make a point to attend.
Game 1 of Saturday’s semifinal doubleheader between the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic had an announced crowd of 16,697, with many visible empty seats. The second game Saturday between the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder had an announced sellout crowd of 18,519.
In 2023, when the Los Angeles Lakers reached the semifinals and finals, both of their games were sellouts. However, Las Vegas is a market filled with Lakers fans. There is no guarantee a popular team or star player alone can attract a sellout crowd at any venue.