NBA Expansion: Lasry Group Effectively Drops Las Vegas Bid Over $10 Billion Price
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Las Vegas's pursuit of an NBA expansion team has suffered a setback. The ownership group led by Marc Lasry and Steve Apostolopoulos has effectively dropped out of the expansion process, Sports Business Journal reported on October 23, citing multiple sources.
The group had bid roughly $9 billion to $9.5 billion for a Las Vegas NBA franchise. After the league informed bidders that the price would rise to $10 billion or more, the group said it would not pad its bid and notified the league it was stepping back. Sources said the move is not the formal close of the bid — the group could still win the franchise if the others also refuse to reach $10 billion — but it essentially ends its pursuit.
That leaves two bidders in play: the Nancy Walton Laurie–Bill Laurie–Egon Durban conglomerate and the Bill Foley–Jerry Colangelo group. Sources close to one group believe the NBA wants a bid closer to $11 billion, plus about a $2 billion commitment to build a new arena, and industry insiders see the deep-pocketed Walton-Laurie-Durban bid as the front-runner. Lasry is a former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks; Apostolopoulos controls the real estate firm Triple Group of Companies, the private equity firm Six Ventures and the fintech company Caary. Neither man was available for comment on Friday.
Source: GSM·America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：拉斯维加斯大道夜景。摄影：Matthiasmullie，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: the Las Vegas Strip at night, by Matthiasmullie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
