{"id":355171,"date":"2025-12-18T01:17:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T01:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/355171\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T01:17:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T01:17:08","slug":"silvers-nba-expansion-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/355171\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver’s NBA Expansion Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Front<\/a><\/p>\n

Morning Edition<\/p>\n

December 18, 2025<\/p>\n

Adam Silver addressed major decisions ahead, offering a clearer timeline for NBA expansion and possibly stepping closer to the WNBA\u2019s ongoing CBA talks.<\/p>\n

\u2014Alex Schiffer<\/a>, Annie Costabile<\/a>, and David Rumsey<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jeremy O’Brien\/Front Office Sports<\/p>\n

Adam Silver\u2019s long-awaited promise to expand the league is finally coming into focus. For years, the NBA commissioner has talked about adding two teams, but the arbitrary deadline of a new media-rights deal<\/a> came and went without expansion. Then a flurry of team sales this year caused further delay. Now, it looks like 2026 will finally be the year the league makes it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams,\u201d Silver said Tuesday night. \u201cSometime in 2026 we\u2019ll make a determination.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the most explicit Silver has been about an expansion decision in a year when the league has seemed to flip-flop on adding teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three team sales this year kept expansion talks on ice because the rising team valuations would have increased the cost of an expansion bid. When the Celtics sold in March to Bill Chisholm for $6.1 billion<\/a> it was the largest sale of a North American sports franchise. Then the Lakers sold in June to Dodgers owner Mark Walter for $10 billion<\/a>; and the Trail Blazers sold in August to Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon for more than $4 billion<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I\u2019ve said before, domestic expansion \u2026 is selling equity in this current league,\u201d Silver said. \u201cIf you own 1\/30 of this league, now you own 1\/32 if you add two teams. So it\u2019s a much more difficult economic analysis. In many ways, it requires predicting the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this summer, Silver acknowledged both the desire for expansion and the challenges that come with trying to serve fans everywhere. \u201cWe recognize there are underserved markets<\/a> in the United States and elsewhere,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think markets that deserve to have NBA teams, probably even, if we were to expand, more than we can serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July at Summer League, Silver cited the \u201cbroken model<\/a>\u201d with the league\u2019s regional sports networks as another hurdle for expansion saying it \u201cwould be malpracticing<\/a>\u201d to give two new markets teams without figuring out how fans can watch games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And in September, Silver said rising team valuations are another hurdle for expansion despite the same factor previously being used as a reason to support it. \u201cIt\u2019s a high-class problem<\/a>, but some of the recent jumps in franchise valuations sort of created some confusion in the marketplace about how you might even price an expansion franchise,\u201d Silver said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The question remains of where two new NBA teams could land. Both Seattle<\/a> and Las Vegas have been floated, but Silver made clear that the league is considering other markets as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be sensitive there about this notion that we\u2019re somehow teasing these markets, because I know we\u2019ve been talking about it for a while,\u201d Silver said.<\/p>\n

With Stateside expansion finally coming into view, the league is also eyeing opportunities abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many of the league\u2019s current stars hail from Europe, and the NBA has partnered with FIBA for an international league. Silver went to Europe this summer with deputy commissioner Mark Tatum exploring cities and meeting with teams and politicians to discuss a new league on the continent with cities such as London, Paris, and Madrid being considered as potential markets. <\/p>\n

At the Front Office Sports Tuned In event in September, Silver said the goal is to launch the league within the next \u201ctwo to three years,\u201d but pointed to European arena infrastructure and regulatory issues as hurdles the league is currently working through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say we\u2019re casting a very, very wide net right now and essentially saying to anyone who\u2019s interested, come see our bankers, explain to us why you\u2019re interested, how you view the opportunity, what resources you would put behind opening a team,\u201d Silver explained on Tuesday. \u201cAnd then we\u2019re taking all that information back, and then I think sometime in late January \u2026 we\u2019ll be in a position to have more serious conversations with those interested parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

After years of mixed messaging, 2026 could be the year Silver expands the NBA\u2014both domestically and abroad.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has a lot on his plate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Roughly eight weeks into the season, he\u2019s already facing a gambling scandal<\/a>, an investigation into the Clippers for alleged salary-cap circumvention, and the league\u2019s potential future<\/a> in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, Silver vowed to take on another high-level item on his to-do list: the WNBA\u2019s collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re available to do whatever is necessary to help get a deal done,\u201d Silver said ahead of the Knicks\u2019 NBA Cup win over the Spurs. \u201cI\u2019m encouraged by the fact they extended the deadline once again into January. Presumably the sides wouldn\u2019t have been willing to do that unless they thought there was a constructive path to getting a deal done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Later in his nearly two-minute-long answer Silver said, \u201cI remain optimistic we\u2019ll get something done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The WNBA and WNBPA are more than a year into negotiations for a new \u201ctransformational\u201d CBA and coming up on a Jan. 9 deadline, the result of a second extension. As both sides continue to exchange proposals\u2014with sources telling Front Office Sports meetings are taking place almost daily\u2014players are not feeling as hopeful as Silver.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During a three-day USA Basketball camp at Duke last weekend, the WNBPA\u2019s first vice president Kelsey Plum used the word \u201cdisheartening<\/a>\u201d to characterize the state of negotiations. On a call with reporters Wednesday, three-time WNBA champion Breanna Stewart took Plum\u2019s sentiments a step further.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMore often than not we\u2019re the ones that are willing to compromise and they still aren\u2019t budging,\u201d Stewart, who also serves as a vice president on the union\u2019s executive committee, said. \u201cSo if they are not going to budge, we\u2019re going to get to this point where we\u2019re going to be at a standoff. That\u2019s kind of where we\u2019re at right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The salary model has remained the crux of both sides\u2019 discontent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this month a WNBA proposal included a $1 million max base salary, according to multiple sources familiar with negotiations. In addition, the league proposed a revenue-sharing model that would give players 50% of a revenue metric that would not include all revenue and would have some expenses deducted. Under this proposed model, players would end up receiving less than 15% of the league\u2019s total revenue, these same sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The salary cap would increase from $1.5 million to $5 million under the league\u2019s latest proposal, bringing the average salary to about $417,000. Projected earnings with the league\u2019s proposed revenue-sharing model factored in would push the average to more than $500,000 and the max over $1.2 million.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The union has since countered with a proposal seeking roughly 30% of all team and league revenue, sources familiar with negotiations confirmed to FOS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing right now isn\u2019t really getting us anywhere,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cIf that means Adam and Mark need to come to the table, we\u2019re more than happy to have that,\u201d she said, referring to Silver and deputy NBA commissioner Mark Tatum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to swapping economic proposals, the union has also proposed that teams be permitted to add two developmental players. WNBA coaches and executives have been vocal in their support of expanded rosters, including during competition meetings in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Erasing the core designation was another non-salary proposal made by the WNBPA, along with improved parental leave for non-birthing parents, reimbursement for mental health care costs, and improved staffing requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know as players how important it is to play and to be on the court,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cBut at the same time, if we\u2019re not going to be valued the way that we know we should be, in the way that every kind of number situation tells us, then we\u2019re just not going to do something that doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Montgomery Advertiser<\/p>\n

As debate continues around the future makeup of the College Football Playoff<\/a> and how that impacts traditional postseason bowl games, the place of non-power conferences in this new era has come into the spotlight.<\/p>\n

Despite two teams outside the Power 4 conferences (Tulane and James Madison) earning automatic CFP bids<\/a> this season, one idea continues to be brought up: a separate playoff for non-power conferences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Traditionally, there have been five of those leagues, but with the Pac-12 relaunching<\/a> with mostly non-power teams next year after more realignment, there will now be a clear \u201cGroup of 6\u201d outside the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC: the American Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Pac-12, and Sun Belt.<\/p>\n

Group of 6 Tournament?<\/p>\n

Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli, whose organization oversees the scheduling of bowl games, tells Front Office Sports that bowl game operators would support facilitating a Group of 6 playoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in constant dialogue with all the conferences and the consistent message is: We are here to serve the game of college football, like we have for a long, long time,\u201d Carparelli says. \u201cSo, if the Group of 6 were to want to put together a series of bowl games that determine some type of champion, in their group, we would be excited to be a part of that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carparelli believes providing neutral postseason sites, like most other NCAA sports have, is paramount. \u201cWhen you get to that level, having a competitively fair, neutral site environment is very important,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Meetings between the 10 FBS conferences and Bowl Season execs about the 2026 landscape and beyond will take place sometime after the Jan. 20 CFP national championship game.<\/p>\n

Dealing With Opt-Outs<\/p>\n

Carparelli has not spoken with anyone from Notre Dame about the school opting out of Bowl Season<\/a> after missing out on the CFP, but he plans to eventually. \u201cThere were a lot of emotions going on there,\u201d he says. \u201cThey handled their decision with the ACC, of which they\u2019re part of their bowl lineup. So, I was respectful of that process. And I have not wanted to speak to them directly just yet, because I think it\u2019s still a little bit raw and emotional, but time will come for that for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kansas State and Iowa State were fined $500,000 each by the Big 12 for turning down bowl invites amid coaching changes. There are three 5\u20137 teams competing in bowl games this postseason, after multiple games struggled to attract participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly we have a lot to talk about in the offseason with our conference partners,\u201d Carparelli says. \u201cNo one wants to force anyone to go to a bowl game if they don\u2019t want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attracting Fans a \u201cChallenge\u201d<\/p>\n

There are 43 bowl games this season, including CFP matchups, the same number as last year<\/a>, when the 36 non-CFP game broadcasts averaged 2.7 million viewers, up 14% from the prior season.<\/p>\n

Total bowl game attendance has hovered around 1.5 million in recent seasons, and Carparelli admits attracting fans to games \u201ccontinues to be a challenge.\u201d On Saturday, the Bucked Up LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk, featuring Washington and Boise State, drew an announced attendance of 23,269 at the 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nine bowl games have different branding this season. Three changed title sponsors, four added sponsors, the New Orleans Bowl lost its sponsor, and the Xbox Bowl in Frisco, Texas, has replaced the Bahamas Bowl.<\/p>\n

Lakers center Deandre Ayton\u2019s mother prepared a full Jamaican meal<\/a> for the holidays for the entire team. Andrea Ayton made curry mutton, jerk chicken, fried chicken, oxtail, and rice and peas.
\nShaquille O\u2019Neal gave presents to 600 kids as part of his annual Shaq-a-Claus<\/a>. He provided kids with winter coats, backpacks, shoes, toys, and more.
\nA Warriors fan emailed owner Joe Lacob<\/a> about his issues with the team. He got a response 2 minutes later: \u201cYou can\u2019t be as frustrated as me. I am working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>A key executive in the commissioner\u2019s office will leave at year\u2019s end. <\/p>\n

Should the Group of 6 form its own playoff?<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s result: 97% of respondents think Arch Manning made the right decision by staying at Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morning Edition December 18, 2025 Adam Silver addressed major decisions ahead, offering a clearer timeline for NBA expansion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-355171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}