When talking about potential NBA expansion teams, cities like Seattle and Las Vegas are always the first names to surface. As two culturally rich areas with a lot of people and a lot of love for basketball, they have long been thought to be the likeliest location for the next expansion team.
But according to Marc Spears on NBA Today this week, the place to look out for might be Mexico City.
“They been waiting for two years because of the pandemic to get to Mexico City. They’re finally there. This is the fifth largest city in the world. This is 33 million people, that have access to their games, they have a 22,000 seat arena. This would be not New York, five times bigger than New York.”
An NBA team in Mexico City? @MarcJSpears says expansion is a real option 👀
"Move to the side Las Vegas. Move to the side Seattle. Mexico City … is a legit contender when the NBA talks expansion." pic.twitter.com/NjGxeAejmg
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 14, 2022
Mexico City Emerging As Rising Contender For Next NBA Team City
There is no doubt that Mexico City has everything it needs to support an NBA team, and it’s no secret that the league has taken a growing interest in the area over the years.
“Expansion is currently not on the docket, but at some point, if we were to turn to expansion, there’s no doubt that Mexico City would have to be one the cities that would be in consideration along with a host of other very big and relevant cities in North America,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum told Andscape. “One of the biggest challenges around international expansion has always been the travel issues, the facility issues. But there is a world-class facility in Mexico City in Arena CDMX, which is where we’ve been playing our games and our global games in Mexico. And that’s actually the home of the G League team, the Capitanes. And so that’s not an issue.”
Between the COVID-19 crisis and a period of high political turmoil, the NBA is still trying to make up for all the money it lost over the past few years.
And while not all the owners will be excited to add a team South of the Border, the financial opportunities in a place like Mexico City are far too lucrative to ignore.
So, if the NBA does get serious about expansion teams, don’t be surprised if both Seattle and Las Vegas lose the bidding war.
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