NEW YORK — Las Vegas is getting a WNBA franchise.
The San Antonio Stars are moving to the gambling mecca after being bought by MGM Resorts International, the league said Tuesday.
"Las Vegas has been on our radar screen for some time," WNBA President Lisa Borders said in a phone interview. "We've had conversations with the MGM family, executive team. They are bringing live sports to Las Vegas."
The team will join the NHL as a second professional team in Las Vegas — with the NFL soon to follow. The Stars begin play next season with home games at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Bill Laimbeer will be the team's president of basketball operations and coach.
"He'll run the basketball side of the business," Borders said. "The MGM team and the league will work to staff the business side. The folks that will run business, sales, social, digital, all the functions to run the business."
The move has been in the works since the Stars ownership group told the league they were interested in selling the team. Borders said she approached MGM about purchasing the team.
"I've been working on this for so long, it's been a few months for sure," Borders said. "(San Antonio) has run the team for 15 years and it's their business decision. Our responsibility is that our teams are all doing well. We have a responsibility to the players and fans that the league is healthy, finding a great spot for that team to land. That's what we've done in Las Vegas."
MGM will not be the first company with casino holdings to own a WNBA team. The Mohegan Sun owns the team in Connecticut.
This will be the first professional basketball team in Las Vegas, which has become a coveted target for sports franchises over the past few years.
This is the second move for the franchise. It came to San Antonio from Utah in 2003. Led by Becky Hammon, the Stars reached the WNBA Finals in 2008. The team has finished with the league's worst record each of the past three seasons. San Antonio has a talented young nucleus with Kayla McBride, Moriah Jefferson and Kelsey Plum.