Bill Foley isn’t one to ease into things. The guy brought an NHL expansion team to Las Vegas, watched them go to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season, and now has three trips to the final in nine years — including a title in 2023. That’s more Cup Final appearances in one decade than some original six teams have managed over the last 50 years.
And he thinks he can do it even bigger on the basketball side.
Foley told The Athletic he’s ready to inject what he called “steroids” into the effort to land an NBA franchise for Las Vegas. The Golden Knights owner sees the same blueprint working but amplified by the NBA’s global reach. He rattled off the numbers like a guy who’s already run the projections — his NHL team sits in the top five among all 32 clubs for sponsorship revenue. The NBA, he figures, is a whole different animal.
“It’s a very competitive process,” Foley said. “I’m sure the NBA wants it to be competitive. I’m sure that helps the franchise value.”
Translation: The league knows multiple bidders drive the price up, and Foley’s fine with that because he’s confident in what Vegas can offer. The city has already proven it can support a winter sport in the desert. Hockey works here — really works — despite every traditionalist who said it wouldn’t. The crowd at T-Mobile Arena is loud, engaged, and spends money. Sponsors lined up. Luxury boxes filled. The franchise valuation climbed fast enough to make expansion fees from the 2010s look like a bargain.
Foley isn’t just some rich guy with a pipe dream either. He’s already gone through the expansion process once. He knows the league’s expectations. He knows the city’s limits and its strengths. And he’s betting the NBA sees what the NHL saw: a market that isn’t just the strip but a metro area of over 2 million people with no professional basketball team to call their own.
“We’ve already brought a major-league franchise to Las Vegas,” Foley said. “We’ve jumped through all the hoops. … I believe we’re in a really good spot to compete.”
The NBA hasn’t officially announced expansion plans yet, but the rumors have been building for years. Seattle is the other city that keeps coming up, and most league insiders expect two new teams — one in the Pacific Northwest and one in Vegas — if the board votes to expand. Silver talked about it publicly multiple times over the last year. The question is more about timing than if.
Foley’s confidence isn’t subtle. He called the Golden Knights’ approach “a couple things we did really well” and promised the NBA version would be those things on steroids. For a city that went from hockey afterthought to legitimate Cup contender inside a decade, that’s not just talk. It’s a track record.
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