Around the NBA Finals, Adam Silver said that in the fall, he and the board of governors would discuss league expansion. However, Silver has decided to back away from that possibility.
According to the man himself, they didn’t believe they were ready yet, and there was an overwhelming sense of the idea’s lack of popularity.
“There was not a lot of discussion in this meeting about expansion, but only largely not for lack of interest, it was that we had said to them that we’re not quite ready,” said Silver during his press conference on Tuesday.
After the 62-year-old said that, he offered reassurance by saying they would reconvene to discuss this again later in the season.
“But it was something that we told our Board we plan to address this season, and we’re not quite ready yet. But I think there’s certainly interest in the process, and I think that we’re not there yet in terms of having made any specific decisions about markets or even frankly to expand.”
Silver would continue to go into detail by saying it’s harder than what people think it is for expansion and how it impacts deals, negotiations, and everything else involved.
“I know I’ve said this before, I think over time organizations should grow. It is appropriate. But it gets a bit complicated in terms of selling equity in the league, what that means for the existing television relationships, et cetera. What we’ve told interested parties is thank you for your interest, we’ll be back to you. And that’s certainly the case in Seattle, as well.”
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