# Chris Daniels on NBA Expansion Update, Timeline, Value, Vegas, Finances

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 17 Sep 2026, 13 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/75f13ecd-08f2-4da0-a20f-b4c800184948/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Chris Daniels of Komo joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about yesterday’s update on NBA expansion and a new timeline and possible deadline to learn news with expansion teams coming to Seattle and Las Vegas, the valuation elements with both the cities, how Vegas affects Seattle’s situation plus the finances with the rest of the league. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: The latest on the NBA and the Sonics. We've got
[0:02] Speaker 1: to get to this right now because I just want
[0:03] Speaker 1: to know when. When are we going to get to
[0:06] Speaker 1: have this? When's this going to happen? Chris Daniels, KOMO,
[0:09] Speaker 1: joins us.
[0:09] Speaker 2: How are you, pal? It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
[0:14] Speaker 2: The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the
[0:17] Speaker 2: NBA continues to move the story forward that everybody's been
[0:21] Speaker 2: waiting on for 20 years.
[0:22] Speaker 1: Well, why don't we just let you have the floor, right?
[0:25] Speaker 1: What's going on, man? Is there a delay again? Are
[0:29] Speaker 1: we getting nervous about this? Give us the update, the
[0:31] Speaker 1: view from 40,000 feet. What's going on? What's the latest?
[0:35] Speaker 2: Well, I think if you are somebody who is actively
[0:38] Speaker 2: waiting for news from the NBA on a daily basis
[0:41] Speaker 2: about expansion, yesterday was a good day for Seattle and
[0:46] Speaker 2: for Climate Pledge Arena. What we heard from Adam Silver
[0:50] Speaker 2: after the two-day Board of Governors meeting in New York
[0:52] Speaker 2: was not substantial by any means, but he is very
[0:58] Speaker 2: skilled at incrementally moving the ball down the court. And
[1:02] Speaker 2: he did that in terms of the expansion process. So
[1:05] Speaker 2: keep in mind, earlier this year, he told me, others,
[1:08] Speaker 2: we're going to have this expansion process done by the
[1:11] Speaker 2: end of this calendar year. What he came out yesterday
[1:14] Speaker 2: and said is that Seattle, you could start an NBA
[1:18] Speaker 2: team in five weeks there with just some minor updates
[1:21] Speaker 2: to Climate Pledge Arena. In fact, the NBA has already
[1:24] Speaker 2: had operational folks out here that have looked at the
[1:27] Speaker 2: arena and know that it's ready to go and know
[1:29] Speaker 2: that it's ready to host an NBA franchise. All of
[1:32] Speaker 2: that is positive. What he said about Las Vegas with
[1:35] Speaker 2: multiple groups and potentially renovating T-Mobile Arena or building a
[1:39] Speaker 2: new one, that it's more complicated, that there's a second
[1:41] Speaker 2: round of bids and it will take longer to put
[1:45] Speaker 2: an NBA team there in Las Vegas, I think only
[1:47] Speaker 2: enhances Seattle's story coming out of the NBA Board of Governors.
[1:52] Speaker 2: And also with him saying all of that, he also
[1:56] Speaker 2: seemed to put a little bit of water on any
[1:58] Speaker 2: sort of fire that may have been percolating in on
[2:01] Speaker 2: one of the reservations about a potential new arena and
[2:06] Speaker 2: trying to bring the Sonics to the Tulalip reservation up
[2:10] Speaker 2: north or any sort of secondary competitive bid that has
[2:14] Speaker 2: been discussed and just kind of percolating behind the scenes
[2:18] Speaker 2: over the last six weeks. He made no mention of that.
[2:21] Speaker 2: He talked specifically about Climate Pledge Arena. He talked specifically
[2:24] Speaker 2: about Seattle. He talked specifically about Seattle being ready to go.
[2:28] Speaker 2: And he also said that The league will, in fact,
[2:32] Speaker 2: make a decision one way or the other on expansion
[2:34] Speaker 2: before the end of this year. All of that was
[2:36] Speaker 2: positive for Seattle.
[2:38] Speaker 3: Well, Chris, great news. But I think the arena part,
[2:41] Speaker 3: I mean, when I read that, I think it was
[2:43] Speaker 3: like a big duh for most of the people here
[2:45] Speaker 3: in Seattle. We know this is an NBA-ready arena. Was
[2:47] Speaker 3: that really a concern amongst the other owners in the NBA?
[2:50] Speaker 3: Did they not know this was a brand-new arena?
[2:53] Speaker 2: I don't think so. And I think the NBA has
[2:56] Speaker 2: been working on this now for a few years. We've
[2:58] Speaker 2: talked about this for a few years. We talked about
[3:01] Speaker 2: this back in 2024 when Climate Pledge was hosting NBA
[3:06] Speaker 2: exhibition games with the Clippers, did that three years in
[3:09] Speaker 2: a row. The NBA is well aware of what that
[3:12] Speaker 2: arena can do. I think everybody's aware at this point
[3:15] Speaker 2: that there's an unfinished part of that arena down in
[3:18] Speaker 2: the bowels. That's a future Sonic's locker room. That's likely
[3:22] Speaker 2: what he's referring to when he says it would take
[3:24] Speaker 2: five weeks, and a very specific five weeks, by the way,
[3:29] Speaker 2: to get the building ready for an NBA franchise. So
[3:33] Speaker 2: I don't think this is a surprise. What Adam Silver
[3:36] Speaker 2: is doing in a format like that is moving the
[3:39] Speaker 2: story forward ever so slightly, saying that they've been briefed
[3:43] Speaker 2: on it, they've talked about it, They're still looking at
[3:45] Speaker 2: Las Vegas and Seattle. Las Vegas is more complicated. Seattle's
[3:49] Speaker 2: ready to go. We're going to have a decision on
[3:50] Speaker 2: this by the end of this year. I think all
[3:53] Speaker 2: of that is positive if you have been following every
[3:56] Speaker 2: twist and turn in this story for what has now
[3:59] Speaker 2: been close to 20 years ever since Clay Bennett bought
[4:01] Speaker 2: the team back in 2006.
[4:02] Speaker 1: Chris, how surprised would you be? Chris Daniels, by the way,
[4:06] Speaker 1: KOMO with us on the air. How surprised would you
[4:09] Speaker 1: be if we woke up On the 1st of January,
[4:12] Speaker 1: and we have heard nothing concrete from the NBA about
[4:14] Speaker 1: expansion in Seattle.
[4:17] Speaker 2: Surprised because Adam Silver has drawn a line in the sand.
[4:20] Speaker 2: He's doing this externally and internally. They need to get
[4:23] Speaker 2: 23 owners at least to sign off on expansion. He
[4:27] Speaker 2: knows that people have been lined up for financing for
[4:31] Speaker 2: a couple of years, whether it be during the cycle
[4:34] Speaker 2: in 2024 that had starts and stops and then stopped.
[4:38] Speaker 2: And now you can only go to investors so many times,
[4:42] Speaker 2: especially when you're talking about a price tag well north
[4:45] Speaker 2: of $ 6 billion potentially for expansion and multiple bidders down
[4:50] Speaker 2: in Las Vegas. These are people with deep pockets who
[4:55] Speaker 2: aren't going to say, I'll put in a half a
[4:58] Speaker 2: billion dollars or a billion dollars and then have you
[5:00] Speaker 2: say no and then pull back and do something else
[5:02] Speaker 2: with their money. He knows that it's put up or
[5:04] Speaker 2: shut up time. for the NBA. And I think that's
[5:06] Speaker 2: why you're hearing him say what he's saying externally, but
[5:09] Speaker 2: he's also signaling internally. Like we we've got to make
[5:12] Speaker 2: a decision here. These people are not going to be around.
[5:15] Speaker 2: If we want to have an additive group to the NBA,
[5:20] Speaker 2: we have to, we have to make this decision and
[5:23] Speaker 2: not just drag it out over time because look what's
[5:26] Speaker 2: happened since the NBA has even started talking about expansion
[5:29] Speaker 2: in Las Vegas. They've had every other major sports league
[5:32] Speaker 2: start down there. The NBA at one point was thought
[5:34] Speaker 2: to be the first one in back when they were
[5:37] Speaker 2: hosting an all-star game in Las Vegas and everything they've
[5:39] Speaker 2: done during the summer league. They've now watched the Golden
[5:42] Speaker 2: Knights take form down there, take part of the marketplace.
[5:46] Speaker 2: They've watched the NFL come into town. Major League Baseball
[5:49] Speaker 2: is coming into town. And that was likely driven because
[5:52] Speaker 2: of the fact that they were worried about being the
[5:54] Speaker 2: last team into that market. So Silver knows you cannot
[5:57] Speaker 2: drag this out forever. Las Vegas is its own set
[6:00] Speaker 2: of circumstances. He knows, and I think it's a legacy play,
[6:04] Speaker 2: he wants to finish the Seattle story on his terms.
[6:07] Speaker 2: He's talked about it was not the greatest time for
[6:10] Speaker 2: the NBA and not the greatest decision to leave Seattle,
[6:13] Speaker 2: especially with what has happened in this market since with
[6:15] Speaker 2: Amazon being a corporate partner of the NBA, work from
[6:19] Speaker 2: Microsoft being done with the NBA, the tech-savvy marketplace, the
[6:23] Speaker 2: new money that's here ever since the NBA left. The
[6:26] Speaker 2: NBA left at the worst possible time right before Seattle
[6:30] Speaker 2: really took off thanks to, in large part, Microsoft and Amazon.
[6:34] Speaker 2: So he knows that those people, those investors are not
[6:39] Speaker 2: going to stick around forever. Both of those markets would
[6:42] Speaker 2: add something to the NBA. And I think that's why
[6:44] Speaker 2: he is trying to get this over the finish line
[6:46] Speaker 2: with at least 23 owners to make a decision by
[6:49] Speaker 2: the end of this year so they can get a
[6:51] Speaker 2: team started in 28, 29. And I'll tell you, when
[6:54] Speaker 2: we talk about December, November, December being the final chapter
[6:59] Speaker 2: in this long process involving expansion. The last time the
[7:03] Speaker 2: NBA announced a new team was in December of 2002
[7:07] Speaker 2: for a 2004 start. So two years in advance. That's
[7:11] Speaker 2: what we're talking about here. So a December timeline would
[7:14] Speaker 2: seem to make some sense based on historical precedence the
[7:17] Speaker 2: last time. the NBA expanded. Chris Daniels joining us.
[7:20] Speaker 3: Chris, let's talk valuation. Are the Sonics less valuable than
[7:24] Speaker 3: Vegas simply because the demand is greater in Vegas? They're
[7:27] Speaker 3: talking $ 10 million as opposed to about $ 7 million. Or
[7:31] Speaker 3: is it because it's actually seen as a more lucrative
[7:34] Speaker 3: market in the long run?
[7:36] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question. I think it's a multifaceted question. Vegas,
[7:41] Speaker 2: with any sort of new complex and mixed-use complex and
[7:44] Speaker 2: the idea that it would hosts Summer League, NBA Cups,
[7:47] Speaker 2: other special events, I think makes it, in some respects,
[7:51] Speaker 2: a more desirable market for the NBA because of all
[7:54] Speaker 2: the glitz and glamour than Seattle. And we have seen
[7:58] Speaker 2: people come out of the woodwork and say they're interested there,
[8:00] Speaker 2: which is boosting and bidding up the price. That has
[8:03] Speaker 2: not happened in Seattle. And you get to a certain
[8:06] Speaker 2: point in Seattle where that price perhaps doesn't pencil out
[8:11] Speaker 2: for the investors, the deep-pocketed investors that are looking at
[8:14] Speaker 2: this And without that competition, yeah, if you're going to
[8:17] Speaker 2: do this, you have to hit the right price point
[8:19] Speaker 2: that's going to convince owners. And you also don't want
[8:21] Speaker 2: to price yourself out of the market if indeed it
[8:24] Speaker 2: makes more sense to add two at the same time
[8:26] Speaker 2: as opposed to one and one or none at all.
[8:29] Speaker 1: Chris Daniels with us on the radio show. Are we
[8:32] Speaker 1: living in a world where we are assuming in reality
[8:36] Speaker 1: that Vegas and Seattle both come in together in 28-29?
[8:40] Speaker 1: Or do you want to leave the door open for
[8:43] Speaker 1: maybe one team to come in before the other like
[8:46] Speaker 1: they did in the NHL?
[8:48] Speaker 2: Leave the door open because I think Silver laid that
[8:51] Speaker 2: groundwork yesterday where He potentially is trying to bid up
[8:56] Speaker 2: the price for Las Vegas. He also said it's going
[8:59] Speaker 2: to be more complicated in Las Vegas and take them
[9:01] Speaker 2: longer to get a team to put a ball up
[9:03] Speaker 2: in the air there. That would seem to lead you
[9:06] Speaker 2: to believe that, hey, Seattle's ready to go. Vegas is not.
[9:09] Speaker 2: Vegas is going to take longer, especially if they want
[9:11] Speaker 2: to build a new complex down there, which, you know,
[9:15] Speaker 2: for me, I look and I see T-Mobile Arena as
[9:18] Speaker 2: being the perfect location for a franchise there right off
[9:20] Speaker 2: the strip. But there are other ideas. But he is
[9:23] Speaker 2: saying it's going to be a longer process. He said
[9:25] Speaker 2: that yesterday. It's going to be a longer process for
[9:27] Speaker 2: Las Vegas. So that would seem to open the door
[9:30] Speaker 2: for the idea. Perhaps it's Seattle first and Vegas second.
[9:34] Speaker 2: Perhaps they hold off an extra year to try and
[9:37] Speaker 2: bring them both in at the same time. There are,
[9:39] Speaker 2: I think, advantages and disadvantages to doing that for general
[9:42] Speaker 2: managers and team owners, especially for the team owners on
[9:46] Speaker 2: the price point. But I think he opened the door
[9:50] Speaker 2: to that yesterday, that they could be staggered.
[9:52] Speaker 3: Chris, Tim Booth wrote today that he feels like every
[9:55] Speaker 3: small and medium market team should be in favor of
[9:58] Speaker 3: expansion just due to the 5%. 500 plus million dollars
[10:01] Speaker 3: going into their pocket directly, meaning only a few big
[10:04] Speaker 3: market teams need to jump aboard to get to that
[10:06] Speaker 3: magic number of 23. How difficult will those big market
[10:11] Speaker 3: teams get to jump aboard? And do you agree with
[10:14] Speaker 3: Tim that, hey, if you're a smaller medium market team,
[10:16] Speaker 3: you're just seeing the money and you're taking it?
[10:19] Speaker 2: Look at Portland with everything going back and forth in
[10:22] Speaker 2: Portland with them trying to get renovations on a new arena.
[10:25] Speaker 2: And are you going to put up your own money?
[10:27] Speaker 2: And the city and the county and the state, their
[10:30] Speaker 2: leaders saying, hey, we want the Blazers to put in
[10:32] Speaker 2: some sweat equity and money into this whole thing. Well,
[10:35] Speaker 2: there's your money with expansion, Tom Dundon, that you can
[10:39] Speaker 2: put right back into your arena if the cash issues
[10:42] Speaker 2: are what they are down in Portland. Oklahoma City's got
[10:45] Speaker 2: a brand new arena that's been approved by voters. they
[10:49] Speaker 2: likely want the money for any sort of mixed-use development
[10:51] Speaker 2: down there. James Dolan, I think it's well publicized at
[10:55] Speaker 2: this point, owner of the Knicks, has been against expansion.
[10:58] Speaker 2: He has really been pushing back against this over time.
[11:02] Speaker 2: There's a question of how many other big markets besides
[11:07] Speaker 2: Dolan would be pushing back against this. Or is this
[11:10] Speaker 2: a case like we saw with David Stern, the late
[11:14] Speaker 2: David Stern, where Silver's got maybe half the owners, the
[11:18] Speaker 2: smaller market to medium-sized owners in his back pocket, and
[11:22] Speaker 2: he's going to turn around to those others and say,
[11:23] Speaker 2: you're either with me or against me, and try and
[11:27] Speaker 2: do some electioneering behind the scenes and get the votes
[11:29] Speaker 2: to get over the 23. It sounds like, by all indications,
[11:34] Speaker 2: he has not had those votes, but he's getting close
[11:37] Speaker 2: to getting those votes. And I think that price point
[11:41] Speaker 2: of maybe a combined $ 17 billion dollars would convince anybody
[11:45] Speaker 2: who's off on the fence.
[11:47] Speaker 1: That's almost as much as the entire news payroll for
[11:50] Speaker 1: a Como TV club. I mean, that that's incredible, man,
[11:52] Speaker 1: but Hey, Chris, am I close? Am I even close
[11:57] Speaker 1: to that by the way?
[11:58] Speaker 2: Or maybe I'm even, I mean, Yeah, I mean, we've
[12:01] Speaker 2: got extra cushions. We've got extra couches sitting around. Yeah,
[12:06] Speaker 2: we don't need to look under those cushions. We're in
[12:08] Speaker 2: good shape, Softie.
[12:09] Speaker 1: You know what? You're not spending any money on gel
[12:12] Speaker 1: for Eric Johnson's hair anymore, man. So at least you
[12:15] Speaker 1: can now take that from the budget. But Chris, before
[12:18] Speaker 1: you go, give us 30 seconds on this because I
[12:21] Speaker 1: want to put this into personal terms here. All right,
[12:24] Speaker 1: because you've been nothing but professional, right, Dick, since this
[12:28] Speaker 1: whole thing started way back in the day with Clay
[12:31] Speaker 1: Bennett and the Maloofs and Chris Hansen. You just report
[12:34] Speaker 1: the news, right? You're not about editorializing. You just give
[12:37] Speaker 1: us the facts. You got kids, right?
[12:41] Speaker 2: Yeah. How old's your oldest kid?
[12:42] Speaker 1: 17.
[12:45] Speaker 2: Never seen a Sonics game.
[12:47] Speaker 1: Wow!
[12:47] Speaker 2: Yes, I know where you're going.
[12:48] Speaker 1: Okay, so if your 17-year-old came to you and said, Dad,
[12:52] Speaker 1: am I about to see a Sonic game? Am I
[12:55] Speaker 1: about to see NBA basketball in Seattle? What would you
[12:59] Speaker 1: say to your flesh and blood?
[13:02] Speaker 2: In a couple of years, the answer... Would be yes,
[13:06] Speaker 2: as long as they get this thing over the finish line.
[13:08] Speaker 2: You had to put that in there, didn't you?
[13:10] Speaker 1: You had to put the caveat in there, didn't you?
[13:12] Speaker 1: Come on, man.
[13:13] Speaker 2: You're killing me. Yeah, there's a caveat. I mean, it's
[13:18] Speaker 2: not over until it's over.
[13:20] Speaker 1: Oh, geez. All right, man. Chris, you're the best. We
[13:23] Speaker 1: love you. Thanks for doing all you do, and we'll
[13:25] Speaker 1: talk soon, all right?
[13:26] Speaker 2: Thanks. Sounds good, guys.
[13:27] Speaker 1: All right.

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