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Kansas City among candidates for NBA league expansion

Two cities battling for selection of an NBA league expansion include Kansas City and Las Vegas, the former pushing to convince the NBA to return. A grassroots committee already has formed in Kansas City and is pitching T-Mobile Center as a future home.

Kansas City is pushing hard to land an NBA league expansion, hoping it will return after the Kansas City Kings were relocated to Sacramento, Calif. in 1985.

A grassroots committee has formed in Kansas City, the group pitching T-Mobile Center as a potential future location for a team.

One major obstacle for the city is big funding, likely from a billionaire who would be a local owner. Without one, Kansas City stands a hard chance against Las Vegas, who is also competing to land a league expansion.

It has been roughly 16 years since the NBA added teams, which back then added a Charlotte franchise which paid about $300 million to join the club. Today, that cost is estimated at $3 billion to $4 billion range for two teams, and that means Kansas City needs a billionaire to step up, or a franchise will land in Las Vegas, CNBC reports.

CNBC reports that the grassroots committee said it had minority owners (on top of Patrick Mahomes’ stated interest in an NBA team) but declined to identify who those investors would be.