LeBron James has talked so much over the last year about his desire to own an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas that it almost feels like a foregone conclusion.

Not so fast, says fellow basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal. 

O’Neal, who also starred for the Los Angeles Lakers and is now a fixture on TNT’s “Inside The NBA,” told The Messenger he’s also keenly eyeing the fast-growing Nevada sports market — and has no intention of partnering with James.

“I would like to have my own group,” O’Neal said. “I know Vegas hasn’t been awarded an NBA team yet, but if they ever get to a point where they are awarded a team, I would like to be a part of that. I don’t want to partner up with nobody. I want it all for myself.”

There is not yet a formal process for NBA expansion, as commissioner Adam Silver intends to first complete domestic media rights deals to succeed the current ones expiring in 2025. But Las Vegas, along with Seattle, is seen as a very strong candidate. 

Major facility developer Oak View Group is including an NBA arena as a central element of a planned $10 billion entertainment district in Las Vegas that would also include a hotel and gaming facilities.

Like James, O’Neal has been an active investor and businessman, perhaps most notably through his involvement in several national restaurant chains. O’Neal previously held an equity stake in the Sacramento Kings, which he sold early last year, telling fans, “Till we meet again.”

James’ wide-ranging and growing investment portfolio is highlighted by an equity stake in Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Liverpool FC parent Fenway Sports Group.

Disney has been swamped with potential suitors for ESPN ever since CEO Bob Iger said in July that he’s open to bringing in strategic partners.

That initiative has drawn in the likes of the NFL, NBA, and MLB, Amazon, and Verizon. But a major Wall Street analyst now argues the NFL should also be looking elsewhere in Disney’s portfolio.

Needham’s Laura Martin said the NFL should consider purchasing ABC from Disney to protect the scale-oriented broadcast television exposure that is a bedrock of the league’s economics.

“The NFL is standing by and witnessing the destruction of the linear TV ecosystem, with its powerful economics that largely flow to the NFL and other sports leagues,” Martin said. “The NFL is fiddling while Rome burns, in our view.”

Disney’s ongoing reconsideration of its media assets involves all of its linear networks, including ABC.

Partly referencing the collapse of the regional sports network business and Diamond Sports Group’s ongoing bankruptcy, Martin also predicts a sharp winnowing of potential suitors in the NFL’s next round of domestic rights in 2033, perhaps only to Amazon.

“Content without distribution is worthless, no matter how good,” she said.

In the meantime, the NFL continues to draw banner ratings across its domestic partners.

Activist Shareholder Returns

Eight months after abandoning his proxy fight against Disney, activist investor Nelson Peltz has reignited his pressure on the company. Now holding a Disney stake worth about $2.5 billion through his Trian Fund Management, Peltz is pursuing multiple board seats, including one for himself. 

If successful, Peltz could significantly influence the company’s sale of equity in assets such as ESPN and ABC. Peltz’s efforts arrive as Disney stock hit a nine-year low last week. 

LIV Golf’s application with the Official World Golf Ranking board has been denied, giving the PGA Tour an upper hand in its negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. 

The talks have a self-imposed Dec. 31 deadline for completion.

OWGR board chair Peter Dawson cited the makeup of LIV’s tournament fields as a major reason for not giving the league rankings points. With a few exceptions, LIV has largely featured the same players in every event this season, and many are signed to long-term contracts regardless of performance. Most global tours have a turnover rate of up to 25%.

Without further legitimization for LIV, its financial backers in the PIF lose some negotiating power to finalize an agreement with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour — and follow through on its desire to incorporate a team aspect into the future of professional golf.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan initially said he didn’t envision a scenario where LIV would exist long-term under the new Saudi partnership, but has since provided less detail regarding his vision. 

Been Here Before

A year ago, LIV attempted to hastily partner with the MENA Tour to receive world rankings points, an effort that ultimately failed.

Prior to that, LIV had started to try to persuade the OWGR to retroactively assign rankings points for its 2022 events. Its initial application was made in July 2022.

The NFL has made no secret of its accelerating international ambitions, and it was also a fierce advocate for flag football’s inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics as part of the league’s broader participatory push.

Now, those two key initiatives could combine in powerful fashion.

Several current and former NFL players have already expressed interest in competing for an Olympic gold medal — something previously impossible in the sport — and they have the league’s support.

“Through this process, a number of great young stars of the league have said how great it would be to represent their country and play flag,” NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly told Reuters. 

Details have not yet been finalized, and the IOC still must grant final approval to the request of the LA28 organizing committee to include flag football, along with baseball and softball, cricket, lacrosse, and squash. It also remains to be seen how receptive some teams owners will be to having their top talent competing outside the existing NFL structure, even in a non-contact setting. 

But the inclusion of flag football offers up the possibility of creating “Dream Teams” in the sport — and not necessarily just with the U.S. squad. 

The 1992 men’s Olympic basketball team — the first Dream Team that included NBA players in the Olympics — helped fuel a meteoric rise in fan interest in that league, and a similar situation could develop for the NFL.

“Calling all @NFL guys, let’s bring one home,” said Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill on X, formerly known as Twitter. Hill is one of the NFL’s fastest players.