Red Bull is reportedly considering a bid for an expansion National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, according to Bloomberg.
Although internal discussions are said to be at an early stage, Las Vegas is believed to be the favoured location of any team. However price could be a factor given an expansion franchise could cost more than US$4 billion. This would align with Forbes’ most recent valuations, when it pegged the average value for a NBA team to be US$3.85 billion.
Red Bull has an extensive portfolio of sports outfits around the world, including six soccer clubs, including Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit New York Red Bulls and the German Bundesliga’s RB Leipzig. Most recently, Red Bull invested in English second-tier outfit Leeds United, and agreed a deal to become its principal shirt sponsor.
It is also well-known for operating two Formula One teams, including Red Bull Racing, while it is now the controlling owner of Germany-based elite cycling outfit Bora-Hansgrohe.
Red Bull is not alone in wanting to form an expansion team in Las Vegas. In December, RedBird Capital founder and managing partner Gerry Cardinale confirmed that his firm and basketball icon LeBron James were working on their own plan to establish an outfit in Nevada.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month that expansion would be the league’s next focus, once its domestic media rights deals are finalised. Speaking to NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Pregame Live show Silver mentioned interest among North American cities to form a team was high.
“There’s been some discussion about going back to Seattle, potentially,” Silver said. “Las Vegas, no doubt, is very interested in a team. Mexico City one day.
“But there’s lots of other U.S. cities and Canadian cities, frankly, that have reached out to us to tell us they’d be interested.”
Red Bull has aggressively built out its sports team empire over recent years, with a presence in nearly every region around the world.
However it would be a rare occurrence for the NBA to have a major consumer brand own a franchise in its entirity. However it is testament to the league’s reputation, especially among younger sports fans, that a company like Red Bull sees the NBA as an attractive competition to buy into. Owning a franchise would significantly increase Red Bull’s brand awareness in the North American market.
The energy drinks giant’s interest in Las Vegas also demonstrates the city’s growing appeal for sports properties. Earlier this year, Major League Baseball (MLB) greenlit the Oakland Athletics’ relocation to the city, while Formula One also staged its debut race in Sin City last year.
Whether Red Bull will be successful in landing a team remains to be seen, especially as it would need to commit a significant sum to do so. It will face strong competition from James, who has long campaigned to run a team in Las Vegas, and will have the backing of a major private equity firm in RedBird.
By SportsProMedia