Walmart Heiress Explores Las Vegas NBA Expansion Bid

Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie are considering a bid for an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas, according to three people familiar with the league’s process.

The Walmart heiress would bring deep pockets and a local flavor to the Vegas expansion process. She and her husband live just outside Sin City in Henderson, Nev., and are worth $17.8 billion, according to <em>Forbes</em>.</p><strong>More from Sportico.com</strong><p>
A representative for Walton Laurie declined to comment, while PJT Partners, the bank the NBA hired in March to evaluate league expansion in Las Vegas and Seattle, did not respond to request to comment.


Monday is the deadline for interested parties to detail their sources of capital and management plans for a Las Vegas franchise.


"Multiple various, serious groups are in the process of presenting plans to our bankers," commissioner Adam Silver told the press after the NBA's latest board of governors meeting. "And those plans not only include who the potential owners would be, but their vision for what Las Vegas basketball could look like: where they would play, how they would present the game. And it's music to my ears."


Walton Laurie is the youngest daughter of Bud Walton, who co-founded retail giant Walmart with his brother, Sam. Walton Laurie and her sister, Ann Walton Kroenke, split their father's Walmart stock when he died in 1995.


Ann is married to Stan Kroenke, who controls the world's most valuable sports empire with ownership of the NFL's St. Louis Rams, EPL's Arsenal, NBA's Denver Nuggets, NHL's Colorado Avalanche and MLS' Colorado Rapids.


Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie previously owned the NHL's St. Louis Blues, which they sold in 2006 to a group led by Dave Checketts for $150 million. This would not be couple's first attempt at NBA ownership, with previous efforts for at least three teams—Denver (1999), Vancouver (2000) and Charlotte (2001)—falling short.


Bill Laurie nearly bought the Vancouver Grizzlies with a plan to move the team to St. Louis, but the deal broke down over relocation issues. The franchise moved to Memphis, Tenn. ahead of the 2001-02 season.


Other known contenders for an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas include a bid fronted by former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner, as well as one from Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley. A group dubbed the Las Vegas Jacks revealed plans to bid with a cap table that includes former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, former Turner Sports executive David Levy, American Century Investments CEO Jonathan Thomas and Prime Capital Financial chairman Scott Colangelo.

Scott Soshnick contributed reporting.

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