[Windhorst] Seattle No Longer Lock for Expansion, Mexico City a Possible Alternative

[u/DrLivingdark]

NBA commissioner Adam Silver appears to be upping the ante on the leverage game involving the possible future of the Seattle SuperSonics, multiple ownership sources told ESPN.

We say "possible" with care because Silver left owners with the impression that a Seattle expansion team was no longer a lock at last month's board of governors meeting. Silver even reintroduced the idea of Mexico City as a possible destination.

At the meeting, owners were told about at least one Mexico City-based group that has approached NBA expansion partner PJT Partners with a plan about launching a team and developing a new arena district there that apparently has caught the league's attention, several sources said.

Even though the league has announced it is focused on expanding in Las Vegas and Seattle, Silver hasn't guaranteed anything over the past year. Additionally, he has made it clear there is no assurance the league will add two teams at the same time, as it did with expansions in 1988 (Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat), 1989 (Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic) and 1995 (Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies). There could be a separate timeline for the teams or, possibly, no second team at all.

As of now, two things appear to be hard facts:

• Silver is a full-go on expansion to Las Vegas.
• The league does not seem to be happy with the bids from Seattle -- yet.

A decision on a winning bid for Las Vegas is near, perhaps weeks away if not sooner. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Shams Charania have reported extensively on the three bidding groups and massive prices being floated around for the expansion fee and arena development.

As for Seattle, there are two known bidders, but the group led by Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena owner Samantha Holloway has long been considered the leader. The offers, sources said, are substantially lower than what the bidding war for the Vegas franchise is driving, which could exceed $10 billion. It is Silver's job to raise that price. It could be argued that Silver's No. 1 job on a day-to-day basis is to increase the value of teams. He has shown to be excellent at it, and naturally this is what he's working on diligently.

Breaking away Vegas expansion to get "losing" bidders to look at Seattle, saber-rattling that the league might not add two teams and trying to create leverage by considering other expansion cities such as Mexico City are firmly within this motive.

Let's stop short of the concept that the league could leave Seattle open as a leverage point for other teams trying to get arena deals -- the Portland Trail Blazers being at the top of that list -- because Silver is on the record saying relocation is currently not on the table. But it exists as a plausible, if private, reason the league wouldn't expand to Seattle now.

But it all comes back to the same base mission: Get the bid up.

Going back to Seattle, where the SuperSonics played from 1967 to 2008 before relocating to Oklahoma City, has long been a league wish. Doing a round of expansion and not accessing a desirable market with an established fanbase and arena goes against common sense.

Additionally, the league staying at 31 teams has a few prickly issues. Yes, the NBA was at an odd number of teams between 1980-81 and 2003-04, so there is a precedent for unbalanced conferences. But back then, there was no NBA Cup; a 31-team tournament would require a format overhaul. And despite the proposals from deep-pocketed bidders in Mexico City who might exist, putting a team there is the opposite of "ready-made." That concept's best current use is as a stalking horse.

One more thing ownership sources have pointed out over the past week is the expected $500 million to 600 million expansion fee windfall each team is projected to receive. One team ESPN spoke to is working off a number of $533 million, for example. Forget about that actual number but understand how closely this is being monitored and budgeted. Teams have been making plans for this money for a while, whether it's to pay for their rosters, to upgrade their arenas or to pay down debt. A no on Seattle expansion means hundreds of millions less.

Nothing as big as adding a new team comes without twists and turns -- and we're in one now. The bottom line: Lean toward an eventual return of the Sonics but leave the champagne on ice for now.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50190888/preseason-intel-expansion-seattle-towns-extensions

[u/Asher-sj]

The leading Seattle bid is from the Kraken owners who own the arena. No other bid can honestly compete when they don’t own the arena, thus the leading bid has no one to negotiate against and there’s no bidding war like there is in LV.

So now I guess the NBA is trying to manufacture a bidding war with Mexico City?

[u/chirpz88 → u/Asher-sj]

This is correct. This is just the NBA trying to gain some leverage. If they expand and they don't go to Seattle it will be one of the biggest failures of any sports commish that I can remember.

[u/DG_Now → u/chirpz88]

Adam Silver is a shit commissioner so that wouldn't be a surprise.

[u/Heelincal → u/DG_Now]

He's did the "For Life" for Sterling and has been absolutely dogshit since that specific phrase. It's incredible.

[u/DG_Now → u/Heelincal]

He's prostituted the league in a way I don't think we could have expected. He'll sell anything not nailed to the floor, and even then.

It's not unique to the NBA, but the gambling partnerships are especially concerning.

[u/DrunkPackersFan → u/DG_Now]

I still hate him for the on court ads since the bubble. Has ruined the aesthetic of the game.

[u/P5Manchero → u/chirpz88]

Well there’s also the potential that they want to move a team to Seattle, rather than expand there.

[u/KlobbCity → u/P5Manchero]

NBA owners love the threat to move to Seattle when negotiating with their local government over arena funding.

[u/Altruistic_Field2134 → u/Asher-sj]

That's dumb Mexico city is not getting a team. Way to make issues that make it close to impossible for that to happen

[u/topofthecc → u/Altruistic_Field2134]

Mexico City can't get a team because the altitude would completely fuck the scheduling.

It's ~2,000 feet higher than Denver. Visiting teams would have to be there early to acclimate or they'd be genuinely unsafe.

[u/A-Centrifugal-Force → u/topofthecc]

Imagine a Mexico City-Denver-Utah road trip for a team. The Denver-Utah back to back is already considered the most difficult one in the league because of the altitude.

[u/SteveJavieWasRight → u/topofthecc]

Nah. A lot of sports medicine points to the opposite. Get in and get out asap. It’s still dumb as fuck for countless reasons.

[u/kneeco28]

Sounds like a negotiation tactic leak to juice the Seattle bids.

[u/milionsdeadlandlords → u/kneeco28]

The reporting has been that Vegas had a robust set of juicy bids and Seattle’s set of buyers was thinner. Seems clear Silver wants to get a higher expansion fee for the owners.

[u/burlycabin → u/milionsdeadlandlords]

Only because the leading bid in Seattle owns the arena. There simply isn't going to real competition against the group that owns their own NBA ready arena.

[u/Shiva- → u/burlycabin]

The other bid for Seattle is in freaking Marysville.

Which is such a terrible location. It's north of Everett. Two hours north of Seattle.

The transportation infrastructure is non-existent and the arena would need to be built.

Seattle metro isn't exactly in the center of the population. With Bellevue/Kirkland being on the other side of the lake... but there is light rail leading to downtown and a bridge crossing the lake. Plus significant amounts of people live in Tacoma/Pierce County. And there is light rail heading up from Tacoma into Seattle.

Basically Samantha Holloway would just be bidding against herself.

[u/bullet50000 → u/Shiva-]

The transportation infrastructure is non-existent

Marysville isn't even on the potential map for transit. At least Everett is on Sound Transits "we'll get there eventually!" (and still will happen before Ballard because NIMBYs)

[u/Aggressive-Ad7946 → u/Shiva-]

34 miles away from downtown seattle is kinda crazy

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/burlycabin]

Still hurts that we almost got a privately funded Kraken stadium, but the port of Seattle insisted so hard on staying at Key. Now it might backfire

[u/burlycabin → u/EggplantAlpinism]

Agreed. I'm so mad that we didn't get the SoDo arena.

Also mad about it because that proposal included a plan and funding to turn the key into a really cool indoor/outdoor publicly owned venue in the middle of Seattle Center. Would have been awesome. But city corruption won out.

[u/StupendousMan36 → u/burlycabin]

It's insane how much better the transit options would've been. Still hate that the city fought that so hard.

[u/burlycabin → u/StupendousMan36]

I'm still very mad about it

[u/AgadorFartacus → u/kneeco28]

Mexico City is not a credible alternative so it won't be effective as negotiating leverage.

[u/ositola → u/AgadorFartacus]

Flight time from jfk is about 5.5 hours and 3 hours form lax 

It has the same home advantage as Denver in high altitude, large population with plenty of corporate customers 

I doubt someone is willing to pay more to franchise in cdmx over Seattle though 

[u/mal_guinness → u/ositola]

The potential for a mexican team is pretty high but probably more risky so a lower bid makes sense. I wonder if NBA would prefer a foothold in latin america longterm as a better inestment in their global strategy.

[u/No_Grocery_9280 → u/mal_guinness]

I wonder how they would play the language barrier situation.

[u/acekingoffsuit → u/No_Grocery_9280]

"Hey Pat, quick question: y'all still got those El Heat jerseys on hand? Just trying to work some things out..."

[u/veringo → u/acekingoffsuit]

I always thought it was stupid they didn't translate the team names as well

[u/trunky → u/No_Grocery_9280]

plenty of teams of spanish/english broadcasts already

dont think it would be an issue

[u/ModernPoultry → u/No_Grocery_9280]

It’s not like it doesn’t exist elsewhere in North America. Montreal has 3 sports teams (MLS, NHL, CFL).

[u/mal_guinness → u/No_Grocery_9280]

We have spanish and english broadcasts for spurs games, I assume the in arena would be spanish. Players all speak english now even if they come from europe, not sure what issue there would be language wise, Refs would probably use english.

[u/No_Grocery_9280 → u/mal_guinness]

I’m not saying there would be an issue, I’m just curious how it would work out. The fans in the arena would speak Spanish so I imagine the arena and announcers would speak Spanish. The players speak English so the Refs might as well, but the calls would then need to be translated. The broadcast can be simulcast very easily.

There would be some pinch points trying to bridge things.

[u/thedrcubed → u/ositola]

Players freaked out about having to play in Vancouver. Mexico City is on a whole other level since English isn't even the primary language

[u/Yeti60 → u/thedrcubed]

Plenty of english in CDMX

[u/oby100 → u/thedrcubed]

Players freak out anytime they’re not sent to LA, NYC or Miami. Who cares? They somehow all end up sucking it up to earn millions dribbling a ball.

[u/Captain_Quark → u/ositola]

Denver is (famously) at 5,280 ft elevation. Mexico City is 7,350 ft.

[u/Terminal_BAS → u/Captain_Quark]

It's a huge difference. You can feel it just walking in the city plus the smog issue.

[u/GFischerUY → u/ositola]

Definitely enough billionaires, if Carlos Slim wants a team he can outbid most of the US billionaires that don't have one

[u/Shiva- → u/GFischerUY]

Samantha Holloway is backed by Melinda French Gates and also Andy Jassy... who apparently is not a billionaire, but having the Amazon CEO back you still has to be a good thing...

She just has no reason to bid against herself right now. Which is probably why Silver is trying to drum up business.

[u/GFischerUY → u/Shiva-]

And that's why the existing owners want to extract more money from them, scaring them with Mexican billionaires (I don't think Slim is interested)

[u/jigokusabre → u/ositola]

Eh. If they cant get a MLB team in Mexico City, I can't imagine an NBA team successfully landing there.

[u/captain_ahabb → u/ositola]

Players aren't going to want to live there

[u/birdflag → u/kneeco28]

It’s a fairly weak negotiation lie, only meant to squeeze out a little bit more money for the existing owners.
The NHL sometimes has trouble keeping stars in Canada even when they are Canadian. Can you imagine how many draft picks and free agents would Steve-Francise their way out of NBA Mexico City?

[u/seamus1982 → u/birdflag]

I dont think the NHL having trouble keeping Canadian stars in Canada is a thing (American stars wanting out of small Canadian markets lately yes) but I get your point that some players may be wary of moving to Mexico. Even though Mexico City is an incredible place.

[u/nowhathappenedwas → u/kneeco28]

Yeah, as Windhorst explains in the article:

As for Seattle, there are two known bidders, but the group led by Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena owner Samantha Holloway has long been considered the leader. The offers, sources said, are substantially lower than what the bidding war for the Vegas franchise is driving, which could exceed $10 billion. It is Silver's job to raise that price. It could be argued that Silver's No. 1 job on a day-to-day basis is to increase the value of teams. He has shown to be excellent at it, and naturally this is what he's working on diligently.

Breaking away Vegas expansion to get "losing" bidders to look at Seattle, saber-rattling that the league might not add two teams and trying to create leverage by considering other expansion cities such as Mexico City are firmly within this motive.

Let's stop short of the concept that the league could leave Seattle open as a leverage point for other teams trying to get arena deals -- the Portland Trail Blazers being at the top of that list -- because Silver is on the record saying relocation is currently not on the table. But it exists as a plausible, if private, reason the league wouldn't expand to Seattle now.

But it all comes back to the same base mission: Get the bid up.

[u/jmblumenshine → u/kneeco28]

Its funny because all signs point to Vegas being the wrong expansion.

The Golden Knights are no longer selling out every game and international tourism to Vegas is at an absolute low.

[u/karawec403 → u/jmblumenshine]

The nba had long been rumored to be the first league to expand to Vegas. They’re just late to the party at this point. Market is starting to get crowded.

[u/JasonPlattMusic34 → u/karawec403]

Honestly that one All Star weekend they had probably ruined their chances at being the first. Otherwise I agree the NBA is probably the league most suited for Las Vegas… highlight driven sport, glitz and glamor, and already the most shady refs anyway

[u/ZestycloseZeta → u/jmblumenshine]

Yeah, it's also wrong expansion in the sense that, the future Vegas NBA team is planned to be on its own, newly built arena, not shared with the the existing Golden Knights venue at the T-Mobile Arena, which itself was just sufficient size for an NBA franchise

Having 2 indoor arenas of 15k+ seater in a market where it doesn't exactly support the need for it, is my other take on why this Vegas one could be a wrong expansion

[u/kneeco28 → u/jmblumenshine]

There is a pretty easy fix to that second problem.

[u/DrLivingdark → u/kneeco28]

Most likely.

[u/SiphenPrax → u/kneeco28]

Hopefully. Seattle deserves an NBA team again. It’s ridiculously they’ve gone this long without one when they even have an NHL team now.

[u/LordOfLimbos → u/kneeco28]

Jalen Duren and SAC all over again

[u/sol_dog_pacino]

The Vegas team is so stupid, that’s all. #40 tv market, and all the locals are lakers fans.

[u/seamus1982 → u/sol_dog_pacino]

I am skeptical Vegas can support teams in all big 4 sports despite how well it’s gone so far

[u/TheScrote1 → u/seamus1982]

How popular is hockey? Football always seemed like it would work because flights to Vegas aren’t that bad and with only 8 games at home people will fly in for that.

[u/smawtadanyew → u/TheScrote1]

Golden Knights are incredibly popular in Vegas. They had a 9 season streak of arena sellouts that ended quite recently (where attendance was still 90%+)

[u/TexasRoadhead → u/smawtadanyew]

Way more popular than the Raiders it seems

[u/PMMeYourCouplets → u/TheScrote1]

The Golden Knights are doing great but it was a unique circumstance. They were the first franchise in Vegas so locals grew a quick kinship to them. They took advantage of a league that needed the team to succeed and set up an expansion draft where Vegas has been great since inception. I also think hockey not being popular helped. Locals or even transplants didn't have another favourite team so the golden knights were easy to root for.

[u/deucemcsizzles → u/PMMeYourCouplets]

They also made a huge community outreach after the Vegas shootings that massively endeared them to the city as well.

[u/bluedeer10 → u/PMMeYourCouplets]

That's some major revisionist theory regarding their expansion draft. Every article had them ranking last in the league their first season. Seattle had the same expansion draft and aren't good.

[u/CheezyGoodness12 → u/bluedeer10]

Vegas was good so quick because the trades they made pre draft turned out to be very shrewd and so when it came time for the Kraken to draft the other teams had all realized you shouldn’t gift away free assets to protect your 12th best player

[u/VariousLawyerings → u/CheezyGoodness12]

And it's not like things worked out horribly for the Kraken at first either. Taking down the defending champs and then taking the second round to 7 games in year 2 was big too.

[u/MysteryBagIdeals → u/TheScrote1]

Football always seemed like it would work because flights to Vegas aren’t that bad

I mean, it works as long as you don't expect to develop any home fans ever

[u/Sad_Bumblebee_6896 → u/seamus1982]

I think it would be better if they actually were new teams being created for Vegas (Golden Knights) instead of taking an existing team and ripping them from their fans and plopping them into Vegas (A's and Raiders)

[u/Future_Broly → u/sol_dog_pacino]

I agree that it’s stupid/bad but the tantalizing element about Vegas is that the Vegas hospitality industry pretty much creates a fantasy land for corporate deals (sponsorships, luxury boxes, bulk season tickets, etc), which are VERY important for a team’s books/bottom line.

[u/WaltRumble → u/Future_Broly]

Also can you truly support gambling if you don’t have a team in Vegas.

[u/KonigSteve → u/Future_Broly]

Is it even that big of a deal now that gambling is legal pretty much everywhere and you can do it on your phone?

[u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA → u/sol_dog_pacino]

The Golden Knights are thriving there, I don't think there's really a problem. Vegas natives are thirsty for local teams

[u/xdrpwneg → u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA]

The golden knights really did appeal to the local crowd which is why they have been extremely successful in Vegas, plus they did sort of had a rally of support after the 2017 shooting, the city bonded over the knights winning.

The raiders don’t have that same feel apparently, same goes for the atheletics, they do really feel like Cali transplants. An nba expansion could do well but if they pull some dumb moves (not playing at T-Mobile for example) I could see it not doing so well

[u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA → u/xdrpwneg]

I think most Raiders and Athletics fans are Cali residents by volume even in-person, like 60% of Raiders attendees were from out of town iirc

That having been said, I think there's a notable difference between a transfer team and a homegrown one.

[u/CommandaSpock → u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA]

It really only worked because they were the first team there, they were immediately good, Vegas was still cheap to visit and the city really came together and embraced the team after the 2017 shooting.

Right now they’re struggling to fill their arena because of ticket prices, away fans visiting Vegas has plummeted and a lot of season ticket holders have cancelled their tickets

[u/chicknsnadwich → u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA]

Yeah and adding 2 more franchises including one that’s a direct competitor for attention during NHL season is gonna work out great….

[u/TigerWizardDresser → u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA]

They were thirsty. But this will be their third team so it’s less of a shiny new object.

[u/findnickflannel → u/TigerWizardDresser]

4th team!

[u/atlienk → u/findnickflannel]

5th if you count the Aces, and there's also a new proposal to bring an MLS team to LV https://www.fox5vegas.com/2026/04/30/major-league-soccer-team-bid-submitted-las-vegas/

[u/NoShape0]

Mexico City's elevation is over 2000 feet higher than Denver's. They would have a crazy home court advantage lol

[u/affnn → u/NoShape0]

Also the fans would be crazy. I know it's not totally comparable because it's different sports but man the crowd for that Mexico-England World Cup game was nuts. If a basketball team could get a fraction of that passion they would be very intimidating.

[u/jabronified → u/affnn]

first cup of piss to hit an NBA player and the league would be out lol

[u/thedrcubed → u/affnn]

Mexicans don't love basketball like that. It's a boxing and soccer country

[u/drmtz → u/thedrcubed]

There's 23 Million people in the CDMX metro area, I'm sure there's enough basketball enthusiasts to fill an arena

[u/TheSleep-Committee → u/thedrcubed]

If they had one major team they absolutely would 

[u/Artimusjones88 → u/NoShape0]

With more efficient oxygen delivery they should have an advantage anywhere.

[u/c_jakob → u/[deleted]]

Yeah. The NFL uses San Antonio like this whenever someone wants a new arena.

[u/Dijohn17 → u/c_jakob]

The NFL's problem with San Antonio is that Jerry would make sure it got blocked

[u/Pickleskennedy1]

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones need to come after Silver man

[u/popfgezy]

From now on, anytime I see Ramona Shelburne I don't believe what's in the article. She has lost all credibility

[u/One-Possession8942]

It makes no sense to pay 10 bil for an expansion franchise when the most iconic franchises in the Lakers and Celtics went for 12 and 6 billion. It's no surprise they are having trouble finding buyers at that price

[u/MysteriousSeat5245]

If this is true it’s unironically the stupidest idea ever

Mexico City is ridiculously far from anywhere in the US, it has a crazy elevation, most NBA players can’t speak Spanish, and it’s a foreign country so that just means more immigration/visa nonsense

Players already complain about Toronto which is the most American non-US city ever, and these mfs really expect Ciudad de Mexico to go ANY better

[u/Level_Record6475 → u/MysteriousSeat5245]

I have always thought if a US pro sports team would ever go to Mexico it would be Monterey. Super close to Texas Border, still a very large city even if CDMX dwarfs it, and also a high income city to help owners cash in on that box seat money.

[u/jefe_hook → u/MysteriousSeat5245]

Guillermo's dream comes true. Tijuana Piranhas in Mexico City!

[u/panamericandream → u/MysteriousSeat5245]

Of the 30 teams in the current NBA, 20 of them are closer to Mexico City than they are to Seattle.

[u/BaronsDad → u/MysteriousSeat5245]

These are current commercial direct flight times to Mexico City

• Houston: 2 hrs 15 min
• Dallas: 2 hrs 33 min
• Phoenix: 3 hrs 8 min
• Miami: 3 hrs 21 min
• Atlanta: 3 hrs 25 min
• Denver: 3 hrs 32 min
• Los Angeles: 3 hrs 42 min

Don't currently have direct commercial flights, but theoretical flight times

• New Orleans: 2 hrs 20 min
• Oklahoma City: 2 hrs 43 min
• Memphis: 2 hrs 45 min

[u/AdCalm6588 → u/BaronsDad]

Direct flights from SLC to CDMX take 4 hrs 7 min

[u/Celtic_Legend → u/AdCalm6588]

The thing is with scheduling, you would just play in New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, OKC, etc before and after your scheduled game in CDMX. The Nets don't fly 6 hours to play the Lakers, then fly 6 hours to play the Knicks, then fly 6 hours to play the Clippers, then play 6 hours to play Miami, then fly 6 hours to play the Warriors. They fly into Phoenix to play the Suns, then fly to LA to play the Lakers and Clippers, then fly to the Warriors or Kings, then to Portland. Not always in that order, not always every west coast team on a road trip.

Miami to SLC is 5 hours 15 mins. Miami to Portland is 6 hours 39 mins. Miami to Seattle is 6 hours 45 mins. So I guess we should axe the Miami team if long direct flights are the reason to prevent Mexico City's inclusion? Wait a minute... Yes, actually I agree.

[u/PositiveCoyote100 → u/MysteriousSeat5245]

You need to brush up on your geography.

Mexico City is closer to most cities in Texas than the East and West Coast.

[u/Celtic_Legend → u/PositiveCoyote100]

It's even better than that. It's faster for Boston and Miami to fly to Mexico City than it is for them to fly to either one of LA or Portland.

I don't think any east coast team (not eastern conference) has a faster flight to a west coast team (not western conference) than they do to Mexico City.

edit: Actually I don't think any team in the eastern conference has a longer flight to CDMX than they do any team on the west coast. Chicago is close at 6h15 to CDMX vs 6hour30 to Portland. The bucks might but they have no direct flights to either Portland or CDMX and it would be a 15minute difference at best for the argument.

[u/SantosCalzonesBatman → u/MysteriousSeat5245]

Ny is closer to mexico city than Seattle by air, but go off king .

[u/pendletonskyforce]

If Seattle doesnt get an expansion team then Silver should go down as the worst commissioner in all of sports.

[u/Senators_1992 → u/pendletonskyforce]

If he doesn’t see the value in having Seattle, it’s almost a guarantee he won’t do much to try and stop the Blazers from relocating either.

[u/PulgaTheFlea → u/pendletonskyforce]

Always worth remembering-- SIlver works for the owners, not the fans.

[u/Mrmojorisincg → u/pendletonskyforce]

110% seattle should be the #1 target for expansion

[u/Acrobatic-Canary-571]

Windhorst? The same guy that said the clippers were innocent??

[u/neptune_bay]

Fuck Adam Silver.

[u/Sleep_Fartnea]

It could be argued that Silver's No. 1 job on a day-to-day basis is to increase the value of teams.

I mean, he doesn't fucking do anything else to help the game, so yeah...

[u/Weak-Bid2774]

Mexico City and Seattle would be incredible expansion cities do we really need a nba team in Vegas

[u/potato_masticator → u/Weak-Bid2774]

no, but the NBA loves money!

[u/Weak-Bid2774 → u/potato_masticator]

Yea fair they would make a ton in Seattle though and same with Mexico City

Vegas it’s a weird fan experience because most of the locals won’t care for the Vegas nba team

[u/the_moosen]

If they don't add Seattle back as an expansion this time, they're going to keep dangling that in front of people cause Silver knows the fans want it

Fuck Adam Silver

[u/badaccentdoer]

it'll be seattle and las vegas for sure, this is just leveraging on silver's part. i do actually want a mexico city team, it makes a lot of sense (not that there aren't some huge inherent difficulties to work through), but having all three north american countries represented would be very cool. just won't happen for a while.

edit: all three MAJOR north american countries, i'm aware there are many more than the usa, canada, and mexico, but these are the major powers and population centers. thought that went without saying but thought i'd clarify.

[u/dorisburqe → u/badaccentdoer]

It can finally be the NABA instead of the NBA

[u/badaccentdoer → u/dorisburqe]

north american men's basketball league association.

wait...

[u/Zigxy]

People acting like Mexico City is Bagdad…

But the high elevation (2100ft higher than Denver) and visa stuff would be annoying for everyone.

Seattle makes way more sense

[u/Exactly8w → u/Zigxy]

Yeah, some of these comments are wild. Mexico City is fine in terms of security; it's not like Boston, but it's also no worse than several current NBA cities. Furthermore, you have to think they'd make every effort to protect visiting fans if they actually managed to land a major NA pro sports team.

Btw, it's an absolutely amazing city to visit. It's legitimately one of the greatest food cities in the world. There's no shortage of attractions and the vibes are good. The lodging options are both more interesting and more affordable than the standard US offerings. Airfare is pricey (think 2-300 USD more than an equivalent domestic round trip), but that's really the only drawback.

I do agree that Seattle is more sensible, but I'd still be hyped for a Mexico City expansion.

[u/snatchi → u/Exactly8w]

Just because the city is good (it is, I love CDMX) doesn't mean that it will be a good expansion city.

Players HATE the idea of going to Toronto, Vancouver failed, Montreal is never even close to on the table.

You think a city that's further away, has the altitude concerns, more safety concerns than average and also a massively different culture and fewer of the creature comforts that they're used to would be better than Canada?

[u/succsthatsuc → u/Exactly8w]

How long have you lived in CDMX?

[u/HighOnGoofballs → u/Exactly8w]

I mean, I’ve worked in Mexico City and entire neighborhoods have electric wire fences at the top of their 12’ concrete walls, and wealthy people send their families to live in San Antonio because of the kidnapping risk. There is no comparable NBA city

[u/SerenadeSwift → u/HighOnGoofballs]

I was gonna ask, which NBA cities are a higher security risk?

[u/wishlish]

How is Vegas such a beloved candidate? Casinos are in a slump due to gambling apps. I don’t understand the economics.

[u/BaconJakin → u/wishlish]

Vegas is a huge market because it’s already a bigger metropolitan city than most realize and they get the built in constant influx of millions of yearly tourists.

[u/Unlikely-Tone-6269 → u/BaconJakin]

Sure. But you have a market in Seattle where the locals are both wealthy and DYING for a team. And then you have them losing in the race to a team whose “fans” would be predominantly tourists. At a team where the Vegas Knights are seeing attendance drop. So…yeah Vegas isn’t as great of an idea as it seems

[u/Outrageous-Opinions → u/wishlish]

Their economy is built on tourism so they bend over backwards for things like sports teams because it brings in more tourism.

[u/wishlish → u/Outrageous-Opinions]

An NBA team is going to drive tourism?

[u/nbaistheworst → u/wishlish]

It will, because fans of teams will vacation there when their team is playing so they can do the town

[u/Twonix → u/Outrageous-Opinions]

But tourism is way down in vegas, that's their point

[u/det0724]

I think this is more likely negotiation leverage. You always have to go in with a sense of leverage.

[u/Ok-Idea-8371]

Fuck Silver and his greed. The Sonics should be a lock not that stupid attempt in Vegas

[u/No_Grocery_9280]

Pure greed. You don’t have to make top dollar on the bid to bring back a legacy team. And Seattle was never going to attract as much interest as Vegas so comparing them is pointless.

Bringing back Seattle is not about maximizing profit.

[u/Neededtoshow]

Losing to Bo Nix has consequences

[u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

Apparently, the city of Seattle isn't pledging enough public funding...

[u/afriendincanada → u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

Public money for what? The arena was just rebuilt for the Kraken and is supposed to be 100% NBA ready.

[u/xdrpwneg → u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

It would be ridiculous for the NBA to ask for MORE PUBLIC MONEY when the city already went through a costly renovation for CPA and that’s a world class venue and was built with an nba franchise in mind.

[u/khlundgaard12 → u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

What does the public need to fund? The expansion fee is paid by the owners.. the arena is ready.

[u/vvunderful → u/khlundgaard12]

Yeah, I worked at Climate Pledge Arena (formerly Key Arena) for a bit in the kitchens back in 2022/2023. Everything's been pretty much ready for a team since it reopened. We used what's planned to be NBA locker rooms as storage for kitchen racks I believe.

[u/TopBlueberry]

Mexico City is an incredible city but I struggle to understand how putting a franchise there makes any sense.

[u/bloodrider1914 → u/TopBlueberry]

Huge population and underserved market, even with lower incomes there are enough high income earners there.

[u/kj114]

Mexico City SuperSonics

[u/icash1229]

Suck my fucking dick NBA

[u/Fire_Demon-215]

Oh please no way Mexico City beating Seattle for this. Cant even imagine the attendance percentage for the first few years there

[u/mtmc99 → u/Fire_Demon-215]

I doubt Mexico City would have attendance problems. The city is gigantic

They will be a logistical nightmare and probably struggle to attract free agents

[u/Venomswindturd → u/mtmc99]

Also, the population differences with Seattle and Mexico City are insane. Seattle is usually considered the 18th or so largest city in the country. (My fave city in the country btw!)

Mexico City is ranked 8-15th…globally.

[u/frankiepaco → u/Fire_Demon-215]

People in Mexico City love basketball

[u/SoftwareAny4990 → u/frankiepaco]

And Mexicans are great fans of basically everything.

[u/shyguyJ → u/Fire_Demon-215]

You think a city with a metro area population of 22 million people is going to struggle for attendance? It would be a novel thing, Latin Americans are incredibly passionate once they decide to support something (and there would be no competition in terms of other NBA teams to support), and it would be the first true foothold for Mexico into the US professional leagues. They would absolutely eat it up.

For comparison, the entire STATE of Washington only has 8 million people.

I want Seattle to get their team back, but dismissing CDMX based on attendance questions is patently absurd.

[u/burlycabin → u/shyguyJ]

But also, the Seattle's GDP is almost 3 times that of MXC.

[u/fake-tall-man → u/burlycabin]

well we're nearly 6x oklahoma city's. i like the sport but fuck the nba. quit dangling the carrot like an abusive spouse. go away or commit

[u/435rouhnj234_209u → u/shyguyJ]

I think the bigger problem with this would be recruiting players to Mexico City. Like I know that it's not a third world war torn hellscape or anything, but we had these dudes complaining about Disneyland and 4 star hotels. It's definitely gonna become an issue with the NBPA when drafted players refuse to go there and it eventually leads to a relocation.

[u/WayneDwade → u/shyguyJ]

CDMX should get a team over Vegas

[u/bigboybeeperbelly → u/shyguyJ]

The games would be so fun

[u/yeahright17 → u/Fire_Demon-215]

Mexico City is the biggest city in North America and Mexicans seem to love basketball. It would easily sell out every game. It also ranks 14th in North America in metro GDP. There's plenty of money there.

[u/PerpetuallyConfused_ → u/yeahright17]

ya I didn't realize until recently how big it actually was, it's bigger than NY

[u/ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME → u/PerpetuallyConfused_]

The Mexico City metro area has more people than the state of New York (25M to 20M)

[u/fmxda → u/ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME]

To be fair the NYC metro area also has a larger population than the state of NY.

[u/Insert_Text_Here1 → u/PerpetuallyConfused_]

The ignorance in this thread is baffling

[u/abovethesink → u/Fire_Demon-215]

The average attendance would be a sellout.

[u/CardiologicTripe → u/Fire_Demon-215]

The "attendance percentage"? 100%. Hope that helps for you.

[u/Ok_Possible_5702 → u/Fire_Demon-215]

Mexico City has like 15m people, and tons of American expats. They would easily be able to fill in a ~19k people arena (which is the average size)

[u/TheSkipjack → u/Fire_Demon-215]

The capitanes have the highest attendance on average per G league team. The international game sells out every year in minutes. The Capitanes currently hold the all-time NBA G League single-game attendance record. In January 2025, they drew 19,328 fans. Attendance won't be an issue. We have a higher population of Mexico City than New York, and constant tourism. Basketball is quickly becoming more popular here every day, which is why the NBA continues to have yearly events for the finals here. It also allows the NBA to have a team for all of Latin America basketball. That means countries like Brasil, Argentina, and Colombia will have a teams. The league is super focused right now in international expansion and this move gives them an opportunity to do that in Latin America.

[u/sevseg_decoder → u/Fire_Demon-215]

Mexico City is one of the most populous cities on earth… it’s pretty much NYC plus it comes with the whole rest of the country too. 

Now, Seattle has the kind of money where a few million people really does stack up to a whole country like Mexico. That’s true. But I could see it going either way, honestly.

[u/Ocluist → u/Fire_Demon-215]

Bro Mexico City is the biggest city in the western hemisphere, and Mexicans love US sports. This is just the Toronto skepticism again.

[u/sexland69 → u/Fire_Demon-215]

Mexico City has more people than NYC and LA combined

[u/c10bbersaurus → u/sexland69]

Greater metro Mexico City does NOT have more than greater NYC + greater LA.

Greater Mexico City = 22 m. Greater NYC = 19 m. Greater LA = 13 m.

[u/March4th2026 → u/sexland69]

Fuck it let’s just move all the NBA teams to the top 30 cities by population worldwide

Say hello to the Tokyo Thunder and São Paulo 76ers

[u/swik → u/March4th2026]

Delhi Heat 🔥

[u/Impressive-Target699 → u/swik]

Jakarta Raptors.

[u/sexland69 → u/March4th2026]

lol i mean we have one canada team, why not one mexico team 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/CMYGQZ]

it’s just negotiation tactics. Seattle is getting one lol

[u/JoanieLovesAdachi]

Bull fucking shit Silver. Fuck you Dolan.

[u/Shepher27]

lol, the NBA screwing over the people of Seattle again.

Or getting ready to screw over some other fanbase

[u/Will_Vintage]

If Seattle doesn't get the team Adam Silver won't be able to step foot in the PNW without a security detail and I'm not joking. Someone's gonna do something.

[u/keithvai]

As a basketball fan living in Seattle, this just sickens me. First they move our team, then they destroy Portlands team, then they flip the Lakers to a crook, and now Mexico City?!

I cancelled my League Pass last month.

the NBA is no longer for basketball fans. It exists just for billionares and Im sick of it. since they are a legal monopoly, all one can do in protest is not pay. Greed has destroyed this “product”.

[u/Immediate_Lie7810]

Mexico City beating out Seattle? I know Mexico City has a G league team and an NBA ready arena, but just seems very out of left field

[u/eyeguy21]

When is silver gonna be gone?

[u/BenniBMN]

I guess the Seattle bids are "lowballing" since everyone feels it's a given for a team to go there so we're getting told this in hopes of making them panic

[u/hugohouston]

Silver can go fuck himself

[u/RandomFighter50]

I’m guessing they’re just putting this out there as leverage so Seattle will up their bid. The logistics is going to suck having to travel all the way to Mexico City. I think they should just expand a South American League.

[u/TwistedNipplez]

Least serious major sport league in the US

[u/burns_before_reading]

If Toronto had so much trouble convincing NBA stars to live in Canada, good luck signing a star to a team in Mexico.

[u/YizWasHere → u/burns_before_reading]

Honestly I'm thinking more about the problems for visiting teams - imagine playing a b2b where you have to fly 700 miles out of the country and play at 1.5 miles altitude lmfao

[u/txhenry → u/burns_before_reading]

Is the Mexican tax burden lower? High Canadian taxes are the problem.

[u/TheGreatTurtleChase]

Probably just trying to squeeze some more pennies out of the Seattle bids. No way they pass on the very apparent pre-existing market in that city.

[u/Nisfonos]

What did Seattle do to make the NBA hate them so much lol?

[u/JordanDoesTV]

I lived in Seattle for about 2 years from 2017-19, working and such an amazing city, but they miss NBA basketball so much.

Everywhere I went. I’d still see Sonic merch and jerseys and stickers at every corner despite every other team they have. They want the Sonics back more than anything.

[u/MysteriousEdge5643]

I’m done man, fuck this

[u/Devitt6]

What's the point of expansion if you're not including Seattle? That's so much BS. They straight up deserve a team more than any other city in North America.

[u/em7924]

I wonder what the franchise name would be for Mexico City. I would like the name: "Los Carnales".. Just so I can hear all of the non-spanish speaking people consistently fucking up the pronunciation lol

[u/jefe_hook → u/em7924]

According to Guillermo, it should be Tijuana Piranhas

[u/mojomarc → u/em7924]

I'd much rather they name it after Tenochtitlan to really mess it up :)

[u/zak55 → u/em7924]

Aztecs?

[u/joshhorton32]

This is the kind of greed they talked about in the Bible.

[u/sidearmpitcher]

Seattle deserves a team

[u/archivedpear]

This obsession w the Mexico City market has always bothered me. Sure it’s a massive audience but the games would be played at an elevation over 6000 feet making it the most physically exhausting location any teams would have to play in plus it’s an added travel distance for some teams like Portland or any northern city compared to if it was Seattle. Like I get it we want our league to have bigger reach but that shouldn’t come at the cost of one of the biggest potential domestic markets. If you want a team in Mexico City so bad make the pelicans relocate they are barely financially viable as is

[u/marshcraw → u/archivedpear]

Just to be pedantic, the elevation of Mexico is around 7300 feet, that’s over 2000 feet higher than Denver. I pray for the team that is having bad injury luck and only has 6-7 healthy bodies

[u/archivedpear → u/marshcraw]

Ya literally. This is my whole thing w it. Mexico City presents both logistical travel issues for many teams plus massive injury/recovery risk issues for players. I was thinking about guys like LeBron who are older and have chronic swelling issues like arthritis and those type of guys would need legitimately extra off days to compensate for the traveling to Mexico City.

[u/CrimeThink101 → u/archivedpear]

I lived in Mexico City for awhile in my twenties. At sea level I could play pickup for 2 hours straight in the South Carolina summer heat. In Mexico City literally like ten minutes in I’d be on the ground. That shit is real.

[u/FirstTeamAllGrizz → u/archivedpear]

Feels like it's just being reported to put pressure on the potential buyers in Seattle to up their bids or whatever. I think Mexico City is a cool place but like you said there are so many logistical issues and even the simple fact that you'd be putting a majority English speaking team in a Spanish speaking city would be a pretty dramatic thing to do.

[u/steve1186]

I’m not an economist and won’t pretend to be. But I seriously struggle imagining that an NBA team in Mexico City would be more profitable for the league than a team in Seattle (where there is already an established, dedicated fan base)

[u/Marvelman88 → u/steve1186]

As someone who lives in Mexico city, I think you either underestimate our size or the love of basketball here