LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Jim Murren, former chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, has been instrumental in getting professional sports to Las Vegas.
He still remains bullish on another professional league coming to town — the NBA.
Murren, who currently leads the Nevada COVID-19 Response, Relief and Recovery Task Force, spoke at the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance’s Las Vegas Perspective event on Tuesday when he was asked about sports in the valley.
"I'm really proud of all of us for getting sports (to Las Vegas). I expect we'll have an NBA team here," said Murren.
The NBA has held their Summer League here dating back to 2004 at the Thomas & Mack Center, initially with a handful of teams. But since 2018, it has featured all teams. The league's All-Star Game was also held in Las Vegas in 2007.
This is a continued belief of Murren’s, as he has been making similar predictions in public since 2018.
He also mentioned that he wouldn't be surprised to see the city step up its efforts to land a Major League Soccer franchise, but downplayed talks of MLB bringing a team to town.
Murren has previously received credit for being instrumental in bringing the NHL to Las Vegas, working with the league’s commissioner Gary Bettman ahead of the franchise’s creation to promote Las Vegas.
He was also in charge of MGM when the company bought and moved the WNBA’s San Antonio Stars franchise and renamed them the Aces in late 2017.
