Golden Knights owner Bill Foley launching NBA Las Vegas bid - ESPN

Vegas Golden Knights founder and majority owner Bill Foley announced Monday that he is launching a bid to bring an NBA franchise to Las Vegas.

Foley's announcement that he will pursue the first NBA team in Las Vegas comes after the NBA's board of governors approved a vote in late March to explore bids and applicants for expansion franchises exclusively in Las Vegas and Seattle.

A source told ESPN's Shams Charania at the time that all 30 NBA owners voted in favor of exploring Las Vegas and Seattle with the bidding process expected to generate offers in the $7 billion to $10 billion range.

Foley, who Forbes estimates is worth $2.6 billion, is also the owner of AFC Bournemouth in England's Premier League, FC Lorient in France's Ligue 1, Moreirense F.C. in Portugal's Primeira Liga and Auckland FC in Australia's A-League.

Foley has retained Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as the financial adviser while also retaining the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to advise. The firm has previously been involved with NBA ownership deals involving the Brooklyn Nets and San Antonio Spurs.

Foley said he expects the bid group to include «a limited number of strategic and minority partners» that will be selected for «alignment with the franchise's long-term vision and for their fit under league ownership policy.»

«Las Vegas has earned its place among great sports cities in America, and an NBA team belongs here,» Foley said in a statement. «We built the Golden Knights into a championship organization from the ground up, and we are prepared to do it again — with the same standard, the same commitment to this community, and the same insistence on winning. We have the market, a proven world-class arena and a best-in-class organization in