CEO of Oak View Group Tim Leiweke announced Wednesday during an interview with CNBC that his group has purchased 25 acres of land in Las Vegas to build a $3 billion sports and entertainment district that will include a 20,000-seat arena. With his announcement, he made it clear that if the NBA ever wanted to have a franchise in Sin City, the new venue could serve as its home.
“The arena will be world-class,” he said. “We’re prepared to spend about a billion dollars on building the new arena. It will be for music, it’ll be for sports, it’ll be for cultural activities, and should the NBA decide to come—and by the way there’s no certainty or no guarantees that the NBA is ever coming to Vegas but should they come—we certainly will be NBA-ready and make sure that we hit all of their standards.”
Groundbreaking for the new project will begin sometime next year and it will be located ten minutes from the Las Vegas strip near the Interstate 15 and I-215. Besides the stadium, the entertainment district will also include a hotel, casino and a theater.
Professional basketball already has several ties to Las Vegas and could be the location of a new NBA team should the association decide to expand. The NBA’s summer league and the WNBA’s Aces are both already in the city. During an interview in October, NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the possibility that a new NBA team could call Las Vegas home.
“It’s on a list at the point that we do turn to expansion, which isn’t right now but at some point, no doubt Vegas will be on the list.”
