Montreal
We start the list off with Montreal. Currently the city of Montreal has no major American sports franchises or affiliated teams. The Expos lasted until 2004, but an older outdated stadium and constant rumors of the team being relocated put a damper on fan support. Montreal does have a stadium ready for a team to move in (The Bell Centre) with a capacity of 21,000 fans. The population of Montreal (more 4 million) is much bigger than many current NBA cities. Anytime the city has hosted an NBA game, the fans wait in a queue that stretches down the street to enter the arena. With the rise of Canadian born players in the NBA and interest in the sport growing over the last ten years, if there was a new team to be added to the current NBA roster, Montreal is at the top of list. A group of Canadian businessmen have been eyeing the idea of an NBA expansion team for the past six-plus years and are very serious about adding an NBA team.
Mexico City
Expansion into Mexico City seems so close and yet so far at the same time. The NBA currently has a G League exhibition team currently in Mexico, something that the other cities on this list cannot claim. The G-League exhibition team recently set a new attendance record of 16,000-plus fans. Adam Silver recently said the expansion into Mexico City as “doable”. The NBA players who have participated in the Mexico City games have said the atmosphere was amazing and had positive things to say about playing in another country. The current American players playing for the Mexico City G-League exhibition team were interviewed about playing and living in Mexico City, and all had positive experiences to report. Silver sees the city as a major springboard for growing the game in Latin America and South America. If a team is placed in Mexico City and succeeds, there is no telling what sort of expansion the NBA could imagine for the future of the region.
Vancouver
Many fans believe that if the NBA is seriously considering expansion, that Vancouver deserves having a team back before any new NBA team is created. Along with Montreal and Mexico City, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has specifically mentioned Vancouver as one of the main international cities being considered for expansion. One thing that does put Vancouver ahead of the other cities on this list, is that the NBA has already had a team in the city before and the NBA has an idea of what a professional team will look like there. NBA players have said that they love visiting the city. People living in Vancouver were recently polled on if they were interested in an NBA team, and a majority of them were interested in having one. Some fans even chipped in by saying they would love an NBA expansion team as well as a WNBA expansion team. The owner of the Canucks and the Rodgers arena (where a Vancouver NBA team would play) has said in the past year that the NBA’s asking price for a team is too high. If Billionaire Francesco Aquilini isn’t interested in a team, then building a new arena and securing a bid for a team will be a step task for someone else.
London
Silver and the top NBA executives would love if there was expansion into Europe. London is the closest city to the states (a 5-hour flight from Boston and 11-hour flight from Los Angeles). Anytime the NBA or NFL has held an event in London, it has always sold out and fans who attended, have said they loved the event. A team in London would be hit, it’s not a question on if the fans would be interested, they definitely are. Basketball popularity has been growing in the region the last five years, so the interest is there. The O2 (which has hosted many NBA events) is the perfect arena for a team with 22,000 available seats. Silver would love for a team to thrive in London, and then the NBA can show Paris and Madrid (and other European cities) about the possibilities of further NBA expansion in Europe.