{"id":94786,"date":"2018-12-14T06:20:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=94786"},"modified":"2018-12-14T06:20:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:20:17","slug":"phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Relocation Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is reportedly considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city agrees to cover $150 million of a $230 million renovation at the team’s current arena.<\/p>\n

\"Phoenix
Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver might be soon making calls to see if Las Vegas is interested in being the new home of his NBA franchise. (Image: Carlos Osorio\/AP\/Arizona Republic\/Casino.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Phoenix City Council postponed a vote this week to determine whether to fund 65 percent of the Talking Stick Resort Arena upgrade. The delay was reportedly due to Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams not having the majority support required to approve of the spending.<\/p>\n

The City Council is made up of seven people, meaning four “yes” votes are needed to allocate the money for the arena.<\/p>\n

Arizona Republic <\/i>reporter Laurie Roberts says Sarver has threatened Phoenix with relocating the NBA team unless the vote comes in his favor.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“Sarver’s talking about moving,” an unidentified council member told Roberts after speaking with the NBA owner. “He basically told me the team will go (if they don’t get a renovated arena). Vegas and Seattle were the two he talked about.”<\/p>\n

\n

But in a social media post, Sarver told Suns fans, “The Phoenix Suns are not leaving Phoenix. I am 100 percent committed.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He added, “We should renovate the Talking Stick Resort Arena and once again restore it to a world-class facility. In addition, it is important for the Phoenix Suns to build a first-class practice facility, so the players \u2026 can continue to develop.”<\/p>\n

T-Mobile Attraction<\/b><\/h2>\n

Las Vegas became a major professional sports city when the NHL Golden Knights<\/a> began playing at T-Mobile Arena last year. The venue was built with an NBA team in mind.<\/p>\n

\n

MGM Resorts owns<\/a> 50 percent of T-Mobile Arena, and the company’s CEO Jim Murren predicts that Las Vegas will have an NBA team within five years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

T-Mobile Arena was the highest grossing arena in the world between June 2017 and June 2018 with $164 million in ticket sales. The venue benefited from such notable events as the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor boxing spectacle, sold-out Vegas Golden Knights games and Stanley Cup postseason, and several high-profile music award shows.<\/p>\n

Show Me The Money<\/b><\/h2>\n

Once a perpetual playoff franchise, the Phoenix Suns have been at the bottom of the league for years and have the worst record in the NBA in 2018.<\/p>\n

Sarver acquired the franchise in 2004 for $401 million. After some early success with stars Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire, the Suns have now missed the NBA Playoffs in eight consecutive seasons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

ESPN <\/i>ranked the Suns as the worst franchise in the NBA in 2016, a distinction it also afforded to Sarver, as he was ranked No. 30 of the league’s 30 owners. Phoenix has had one of the smallest payrolls in the NBA over the last three years.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Odds<\/b><\/h2>\n

Here’s how, and when, Sarver could relocate his team to Las Vegas or Seattle.<\/p>\n

If the Phoenix City Council can get four members on board for the arena funding, Sarver would be committed to Phoenix through 2037. He would face a $200 million penalty if he moved the team during that timeframe.<\/p>\n

\n

But if City Council refuses to cover the $150 million expense, Sarver’s contract with the city would allow him to leave free of penalty in 2022. NBA owners would need to approve of any relocation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

2022 would fall within Murren’s five-year NBA prediction for Las Vegas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is reportedly considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city agrees to cover $150 million of a $230 million renovation at the team’s current arena. The Phoenix City Council postponed a vote this week to determine whether to fund 65 percent of the Talking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":94790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Rumors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city helps renovate the Suns arena.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Rumors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city helps renovate the Suns arena.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-14T14:20:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/\",\"name\":\"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Rumors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-14T14:20:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-14T14:20:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city helps renovate the Suns arena.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver might be soon making calls to see if Las Vegas is interested in being the new home of his NBA franchise. (Image: Carlos Osorio\/AP\/Arizona Republic\/Casino.org)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sports\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Relocation Rumors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Rumors","description":"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city helps renovate the Suns arena.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Rumors","og_description":"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city helps renovate the Suns arena.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2018-12-14T14:20:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/","name":"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Rumors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-14T14:20:17+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-14T14:20:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is considering relocating his NBA franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle unless his current city helps renovate the Suns arena.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pjimage.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver might be soon making calls to see if Las Vegas is interested in being the new home of his NBA franchise. (Image: Carlos Osorio\/AP\/Arizona Republic\/Casino.org)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-responds-to-las-vegas-relocation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sports","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver Responds to Las Vegas Relocation Rumors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}