🏀 What the NBA vote really means for Vegas

🏀 NBA Votes to Move Forward with a Vegas Team

Or to be more specific — explore the idea of a Vegas team. So it’s not a done deal. The league will now consider bids for a team, which could debut as early as the 2028 season. [USA Today]

• The cost to bring an NBA team to Vegas could be between $7 billion and $10 billion – a price so steep, it’s already put off at least one high-profile prospective buyer. For comparison purposes, the owners of the Vegas Golden Knights paid “just” $500 million to the NHL. [Las Vegas Review-Journal/New York Times]
• The NBA isn’t exactly a stranger to Vegas. The league has come to Vegas for exhibition games and the NBA Cup in-season tournament, which could be leaving after three years. Vegas even hosted occasional Utah Jazz “home games” at one point and is the current home of the NBA Summer League, which returns to UNLV July 9-19 to showcase rising stars. [ESPN/Associated Press]
• Only 3% of tourists list a sports event as the primary reason for taking a Vegas vacation — although based on my own eyes and ears, out-of-towners love to pack Allegiant Stadium and boo the Raiders. [LVSportsBiz]
• We happen to be in the middle of March Madness, which shows that Las Vegas already loves betting on basketball at the college level — and will host the Final Four in 2028. [City Cast Las Vegas ✍️]
• The NBA also voted to move forward with a Seattle team, which will revive the Supersonics name — but questions remain about what a Vegas team would be called. [CBS News]
• Where the team would play is also far from settled. [KLAS]
• Have thoughts of your own on the NBA in Vegas — or ideas for a team name? Let us know 📬

🏈 Yeah, But What About Football?

The inside word is the NFL will choose Allegiant Stadium to host Super Bowl LXIII in 2029. Expect an official vote and announcement during a team owners meeting next week. [ESPN]

🏗️ Democrats Demand Vegas Loop Investigation

Nevada lawmakers are formally demanding that Gov. Lombardo deliver a plan by April 17 for an independent investigation into Elon Musk’s Boring Co., which continues to drill underground Vegas Loop tunnels. A letter signed by two Democrats on the Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure notes “structural failures” in safety oversight and seeks an independent review of public records altered during an OSHA investigation. [Fortune]

• City Cast Las Vegas has extensively documented the Boring Co.’s lack of oversight and history of environmental violations. [City Cast Las Vegas ✍️]

😶‍🌫️ Smog Season Arrives Early This Year

There’s a reason the Vegas skyline looks so fuzzy right now. Our city is one of the worst in the country for air pollution, thanks to the magic combination of sun, heat, and car exhaust. [KTNV]

• Help out by snitching on smoggy drivers. [City Cast Las Vegas ✍️]

🎢 Roller Coaster Ride in All-Inclusive Strip-Cation

Okay, it’s not what you get in Cancun, but Vegas is catching on to the idea of all-inclusive vacations. MGM Resorts just unveiled new packages at the Luxor and Excalibur that include rooms, parking, show tickets, a roller coaster ride (‼️), and the dreaded resort fee in one rate, starting at $330. [KSNV]

• The Plaza has already found success with the concept Downtown, bringing back its all-inclusive vacation package for the second straight year.

😋 Indian Food Is Better Than Ever in Las Vegas

Whether you want to splurge on a high-end meal at Gymkhana and Tamba or explore neighborhood spots like Chaska and Taste of Gujarat, the Indian dining scene is booming in Las Vegas. City Cast Las Vegas explores the bold flavors and intriguing trends among the best Indian restaurants in town. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]