Jay Bloom is not a household name for sports ownership. But he is now a possible candidate to bring the NBA to Las Vegas. But there are reasons to question Bloom’s ability to land an expansion team.
First off, the cash. With a possible price tag exceeding $2.5 billion for an expansion team, you have to be able to pay for this team.
Bloom told the Review Journal: “If it happens, we have the money to do it.”
“We” might be doing the heavy lifting in that sentence, because Bloom’s worth is questionable. He won a $2.2 billion lawsuit for the company he founded, First 100. Apparently the Review Journal asked Bloom if he is a billionaire and if that lawsuit is why.
Bloom’s response: “It depends on how you count assets. That’s what they are calling me.”
That doesn’t inspire much confidence that Bloom has the cash to pay for an expansion team. But he is not alone. He has confirmed to Yahoo and the Review Journal that his potential ownership group includes motivational speaker Tony Robbins and former Runnin’ Rebel Marcus Banks.
Robbins’ net worth is $500 million, according to Money Inc. Marcus Banks’ net worth is likely much less. Between the three of them, they still might not have the cash to make these payments.
Which is where “we” comes in. Who else is included in Bloom’s group, or who would be funding it?
That might be the key to Bloom’s bid being realistic.
There was another concerning line from the Review Journal’s story on Bloom.
“Bloom declined to say who his group has been in contact with in the NBA hierarchy, if anyone.”
Bloom has not been shy the last few days talking about NBA expansion. He talked to the Review Journal about what arena the team would play at. Even how naming the team would be a community effort.
But he declined to say his group has even talked to the NBA? Sure the NBA hasn’t officially started expansion, but how serious can Bloom be if they haven’t had even an informal conversation with the league.
Maybe the NBA hits expansion full speed this offseason and Bloom does get a conversation and lands a team.
But for now, his path to NBA ownership has a lot of holes to be filled in.