​What happens in Vegas pays off in Vegas. Jerry Colangelo has long believed, dating back to the 1980s, that Las Vegas is a smart place for the NBA to plant roots, and on Wednesday, July 8, his team’s statement confirmed that belief: the 86-year-old former Phoenix Suns owner is at the helm of a private equity group aiming to bring an NBA expansion franchise to Las Vegas. The announcement came after the NBA’s Board of Governors voted on March 25 to explore expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle to begin play in the 2028-29 season.
Colangelo has a reputation for a Midas touch when it comes to expansion and growth across professional sports. He began his executive career with his hometown Chicago Bulls in 1966, then moved west to help launch the Phoenix Suns in 1968. He later co-founded the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1995 and established the Phoenix Mercury when the WNBA began in 1997. His track record is often cited as a blueprint for successful team-building and value creation across leagues.
A recent note from Front Office Sports indicates that there are currently nine NBA teams owned by private equity groups. In 2025, JP Morgan reported that nearly one in five teams across the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL now involve private equity investment. Colangelo spoke with The Arizona Republic about the rising influence of PE groups in shaping the ownership landscape of professional sports and why he thinks the league’s delay in pursuing Las Vegas has been puzzling.
Colangelo discussed how private equity is altering the ownership dynamics in major sports. “Today, ownership in professional sports has become a sophisticated enterprise,” he said. “The required equity was substantially less in earlier years, but over the decades it has grown enormously. In my journey, the Bulls paid $1.2 million for an expansion team in ’66. Phoenix was $2 million in ’68. I bought the Suns for $44.5 million in ’87 and sold them for over $400 million in 2004, and then valuations exploded. Our $400 million price tag was the highest for a franchise in NBA history at that time, and it took seven years for that record to be surpassed by Golden State, who came in around $460 million. Then Steve Ballmer’s purchase of the Clippers in 2014—priced at about $2 billion—marked a dramatic shift. The entry of private equity into ownership groups added a new dimension. In short, the landscape has evolved in terms of valuations, price tags, and the increasing involvement of private equity in professional sports.”
Asked why Las Vegas remains without an NBA team despite the area’s growing sports footprint—while Seattle has also been mentioned as a potential expansion market—Colangelo pointed to a broader trend: the NBA’s ongoing exploration of expansion options as it weighs markets with strong fan interest and sustainable business models. “The NBA has signaled a serious look at two additional teams, with Seattle and Las Vegas often cited in discussions,” he noted. The emphasis, he added, is on ensuring a viable, long-term home for a franchise in a city that can support it both on the court and in the business sphere.
The conversation surrounding Las Vegas’s potential team also touches on broader strategic questions facing the league. As PE-backed ownership becomes more common, the NBA’s approach to market size, sponsorship potential, media rights, and arena deals continues to evolve. Colangelo’s current effort is a manifestation of that shift, aligning a private equity-backed ownership group with a city that already embraces big-league sports and a thriving entertainment ecosystem.
In sum, Colangelo’s latest venture underscores a belief that Las Vegas can and should be a permanent fixture in the NBA’s expansion plans. With a proven record of launching and growing franchises across multiple leagues, his leadership signals both confidence in the city’s upside and a recognition that the ownership model of the future—often driven by private equity—will shape how and where the NBA grows next.