Golden Knights owner Bill Foley said that he is “ready to go through the expansion process again” with a potential Las Vegas NBA franchise, adding that the group he assembled to help run the NHL franchise is “ready and able to do what’s needed to also operate an NBA team,” according to Mick Akers of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Foley said that the group he is assembling will “have the means to absorb the financial hit” of an expansion fee between $7B-$10B. Foley “did not want to disclose whom he is working with as part of his group’s bid.” Foley also noted that he is “not opposed to potentially teaming up with other ownership groups in order to land an NBA franchise.” He said that he has “been in contact with five other interested ownership groups, with some also open to partnering.” Foley is also “ready to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade” the 10-year-old T-Mobile Arena to “adequately accommodate both the Knights and an NBA franchise.” Foley said the groups believes that they can spend $300M-$400M on improvements and “add roughly 1,000 seats, more suites, and make it NBA-ready when the NBA does decide to come.” He added that if his group was awarded an expansion franchise toward the end of this year, the renovations to T-Mobile Arena “could begin as soon as early next year, with the majority of the upgrades being ready” for the 2028-29 season (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/3).

HOT STOCK: Akers in a sperate piece noted the list of notable people who are interested in potential ownership of an NBA franchise in Las Vegas is “growing and includes” former Disney CEO Bob Iger, Basketball HOFer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, former Bucks owner Marc Lasry, billionaire venture capitalist Joshua Kushner and Foley. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO & President Steve Hill said that it is “no surprise that several notable individuals are interested in owning an NBA team in Las Vegas with the success each of the teams already operating in Southern Nevada have seen in the nine years the city has been a pro sports market.” Akers wrote if Foley were to help bring an NBA team to Southern Nevada, it would “further cement” his place as “one of the most important figures in the area.” Hill said, “If you had to put a Mount Rushmore of the past years of sports together, Bill’s going to be on it, already. If he brings an NBA team too, I don’t know that he’s got much competition for being on that mountain” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/4).