Xiao Hua lets go! The NBA military expansion schedule is exposed for the first time. Are these three most familiar cities for Chinese fans going crazy?

When the Chicago lottery ceremony was settled, NBA president Xiao Hua suddenly threw out a deep water bomb: "During the Las Vegas Summer League this year, the league will officially discuss the military expansion plan." This sentence instantly ignited the global basketball circle - you should know that in the past five years, whenever reporters asked about the progress of military expansion, Xiao Hua's standard answer is always "the time is not yet ripe."

A careful look at the historical records and you will find that the last NBA expansion dates back to the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets). Behind the entire 20-year vacancy period, there is a cold knowledge: the "franchise fee" paid by the existing 30 teams in the league will be paid in 210 million US dollars in vain after each old team. But now, this model of making money by letting bosses lie down may be broken by Xiao Hua himself.

Ten years ago, Las Vegas was still a "forbidden zone" for professional sports. This city, known for its casinos and entertainment industries, was rejected by the four major alliances for its sensitivity to the gambling industry. But the NHL Golden Knights' entry in 2017 is like knocking down the first domino: the NFL Raiders are following closely behind, with WNBA aces and MLB Oakland athletes successively landing, and even F1 will make a roar with a record 400,000 spectators in 2023. Today, the city has 6 top venues and hosted 36 professional events in 2022 alone, attracting 960,000 sports fans, and the proportion of sports tourism revenue exceeds 18%.

Unlike the hustle and bustle of casinos, Seattle's military expansion narrative is full of historical entanglements and emotional cards. Since the Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, the city has been in a 17-year "NBA vacuum". But the data won't lie: After the renovation of the Climate Manifesto Arena, 19,000 seats maintained a 92% attendance year-on-year, and the NHL Craken set a league box office record in its first season. More importantly, Washington State, where Seattle is located, ranks fourth in the United States in per capita sports consumption, far surpassing Nevada State, where Las Vegas is located.

Apart from this, Mexico City is quietly becoming the biggest variable. This city, with a population of 22 million, has hosted 33 NBA regular season games since 1992, second only to the United States and Canada.

Las Vegas holds ready-made venues and business models, Seattle is backed by emotional cards and capital forces, and Mexico City represents the incremental market in the next decade. Xiao Hua is well versed in the art of "expected management". What he needs is not to give an exact date, but to allow all stakeholders to continue to invest in continuous speculation. When the hotel group in Las Vegas began to reserve team boxes, when the wealthy people in Seattle were busy forming bidding consortiums, and when young people in Mexico City spontaneously organized a game-watching party - the real protagonist of this military expansion drama was no longer a city or a businessman, but the ever-expanding business potential of the NBA IP itself.