LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The NBA will hold a formal vote later this month to determine whether to explore adding an expansion franchise in Las Vegas, according to a new report.

The league’s vote will be held at the Board of Governors meetings on March 24-25, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. A vote in favor would allow the NBA to have a bidding process for teams.

If approved, the first vote would allow the league to explore purchase processes for Las Vegas and Seattle teams, Charania reported Monday, citing sources with knowledge of the discussions.

A potential final vote would then be held later in the year to finalize expanding to 32 teams, if bids reached a necessary threshold. The target for both teams to start play would be the 2028-29 season.

A three-fourths majority is needed in both voting rounds, meaning 23 of 30 team governors must approve.

Speculation has long swirled that the NBA would target Las Vegas and Seattle as expansion cities. Las Vegas hosts NBA Summer League and has been the site for the first three in-season tournament championship games.

“I feel like we already have the 31st franchise here,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said about Las Vegas in 2025. “We own, essentially, two weeks of the calendar. We are a regular fixture. We’ve been coming back for the NBA Cup, so it feels like we do have an enormous presence here in Las Vegas.”

Major NBA figures have shared interest in holding a stake in a Las Vegas team, including LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson.

“I want to be heavily involved if it’s here,” O’Neal told reporters in Las Vegas about expansion back in June. “Like heavily, heavily involved.”

Owning a team would not be cheap. Industry experts believe proposals for Las Vegas and Seattle teams could be in the $7-10 billion range, Charania said Monday.

For comparison, the Buss family sold a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers last year at a valuation of $10 billion for the entire club.

Las Vegas has become a hub for top sports within the past decade. The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights arrived in 2017 as the city’s first major-league sports team, followed by the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces in 2018 and the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders in 2020.

The Athletics are currently planning to relocate to a new stadium on the Strip in 2028.