WNBA’s San Antonio Stars moving to Vegas

The NHL and the NFL are making Las Vegas a market for their leagues, and the WNBA is in line to move a team there too.

The NHL put an expansion team in Las Vegas, with the Vegas Golden Knights starting play this season, and the NFL will make the Oakland Raiders the Las Vegas Raiders in a few years. Now the WNBA is following suit, with a deal in place for the San Antonio Stars to be sold and moved to Vegas (first reported by Summitt Hoops).

The sale and relocation of the franchise are subject to approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors. But ESPN’s Michael C. Wright suggests that’s a mere formality though, as the deal has been in the works for some time.

The Stars were one of the original eight WNBA franchises, first located in Utah and nicknamed the Starzz. The team moved to San Antonio for the 2003 season, and named the Silver Stars before being shorted to just Stars.

But the Stars last made the playoffs in 2014, when Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon played on the team, and their last winning record came in 2012. They have had the league’s worst record in three straight years, including an 8-26 mark this past season, and used the No. 1 pick on record-setting Washington guard Kelsey Plum this year.

San Antonio (obviously) has the best odds at the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, with the WNBA draft lottery postponed last month but yet to be rescheduled.

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The NBA may eventually put a team in Las Vegas, as the stigma attached to having teams and pro athletes call the gambling capital of the world home is slowly being removed. How the WNBA will play there is an open question, especially since it plays in the summer. But the opportunity to watch good basketball, and sit in air conditioning, may draw nice fan support for the Stars.