Adam Silver Confirms NBA To Explore Possible Expansion Beyond 30 Teams

Last Updated:July 16, 2025, 11:37 IST

NBA team owners have approved exploring expansion possibilities, with no set timeline. Commissioner Adam Silver highlighted the complexity, including economic and other factors.

NBA commissioner, Adam Silver. (Reuters)

On Tuesday, NBA team owners gave league officials the green light to commence a thorough exploration of expansion possibilities, although NBA Commissioner Adam Silver clarified that there is no set timeline for any decisions.

During the NBA Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas, it was the first instance where team owners formally broached the topic of expanding the league beyond its current 30 teams. Silver specified that the discussion was limited to authorizing a deeper investigation into the matter.

“There is a significant step now in that we’re now engaging in this in-depth analysis," Silver remarked. “It’s something we weren’t prepared to do before. But beyond that, it’s really day one of that analysis. In terms of price, potential timing, it’s too early to say. That also assumes the outcome of this analysis. It’s truly a complicated issue."

Silver explained that the NBA advisory finance committee would principally oversee this issue, while the league’s audit and strategy committee would examine the economic implications, with approximately half the principal governors in the league involved in these committees.

“We have the focus and attention of our board members on this issue," he noted. “You have the right people involved in the process."

This may not be much comfort to cities like Las Vegas or Seattle, often mentioned in conversations about adding NBA teams. Silver revealed there was no indication of how many owners would support expansion.

“There was no sense in the room that people were taking sides," Silver stated. “There was no straw poll. There was no requesting people to indicate pro or con in terms of expansion. There was a consensus that quickly formed that the league office should do the work," he added. “The appetite in the room I would define more as curiosity."

Silver pointed out that earlier efforts to add teams focused more on evident data regarding potential markets rather than the complexities now under consideration.

“The league office was tasked by our board with doing an in-depth analysis of all the issues around expansion, both economic and non-economic," Silver explained. “Non-economic issues include dilution of talent, how it could potentially affect competition around the league if we were to expand, how you would stock those teams. Economic issues… they are very complex … how you would potentially value the opportunity has a lot to do with your projections on the future growth of the league, as you are selling equity. For every additional team you add, you are diluting the economics of the current league."

With NBA franchises recently selling for record amounts, determining the appropriate price for entering the NBA is a critical issue.

“Had we expanded five years ago, we would have underpriced the market," Silver said. “Those are all things we’re in the process of talking about. A lot of analysis still needs to be done. Nothing has been predetermined one way or another. And without any specific timeline. We also have this obligation to expand, if we do so, in a very deliberate fashion."

A European League?

NBA owners received a presentation on launching an NBA-backed European league, considering such a move alongside NBA expansion or vice versa, though the dilution of talent was a concern.

“There’s an expansion of another kind which is the European opportunity," Silver said. “It would be an independent league, what we’re contemplating operating in Europe, but the fact we would be creating new basketball teams in Europe is related."

Silver mentioned that NBA team owners are worried about declining local and regional television viewership, and the league must address this issue before considering expansion.

“We would be malpracticing if we didn’t figure out how local and regional television is going to work before expanding," he concluded.

With AFP Inputs

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