--- title: "Vici Properties Is Standing By to Build a Las Vegas NBA Arena" url: https://burnaze.com/article/a4a5bed7-4ef7-4b5c-af0b-6202603ffd44 source: "Commercial Observer" original_url: https://commercialobserver.com/2026/07/vici-properties-second-quarter-2026-nba/ author: "Tom Acitelli" category: "Real estate" industry: "Business Services" segment: "Real estate" published: 2026-07-30T16:35:47.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T13:20:01.629Z image: https://commercialobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/07/earnings-VICI-Ed-Pitoniak-Caesars-Palace-credit-Getty-Images.jpg?quality=80&resize=1200%2C630&strip= --- # Vici Properties Is Standing By to Build a Las Vegas NBA Arena **TL;DR:** Vici Properties executives discussed the possibility of building a National Basketball Association (NBA) arena complex on land the company owns in Las Vegas. The company's revenue increased 5.7% annually and adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) increased 7.8% year-over-year. *By Tom Acitelli, originally published in Commercial Observer on 2026-07-30. [Read the original](https://commercialobserver.com/2026/07/vici-properties-second-quarter-2026-nba/).* ## Key facts - Vici Properties may build an NBA arena in Las Vegas - The company's revenue increased 5.7% annually - AFFO increased 7.8% year-over-year ## Story **Vici Properties** executives during a Thursday morning earnings call teased the possibility of building a **National Basketball Association** (NBA) arena complex on land the company owns in Las Vegas. In addition to being the largest owner on the Las Vegas Strip with properties including the **Venetian**, **Mandalay Bay**, the **MGM** **Grand** and **Caesars Palace**, the Manhattan-based Vici also controls several dozen undeveloped acres behind the **Planet Hollywood**, **Paris** and **Horseshoe** casinos. The NBA toward the start of 2026 began formally reviewing the possibility of adding a Las Vegas franchise. The move highlighted what Vici President and Chief Operating Officer **John Payne** noted on the earnings call was the “massive growth in pro sports” in Las Vegas. **Major League Baseball**’s **Oakland A’s** are relocating to Las Vegas, and the city in the past 10 years has added **National Football League**, **National Hockey League** and **Women’s National Basketball Association** teams. ## NBA expansion plans Nothing is finalized regarding developing an NBA arena complex, despite weeks of media speculation. Executives on the second-quarter earnings call did not discuss any moves in depth. The addition of such a complex, though, would fit into the strategy of a company that bills itself as an “experiential real estate investment trust.” Its 103-property portfolio inside and outside of Las Vegas is capitalizing on a particularly robust era for experiential retail. The market for experiential retail globally is expected to more than quadruple from the $132 billion it stood at toward the start of 2026, according to market research firm Metatech Insights. Heck, one of the fastest-growing commercial real estate asset classes in the U.S. and Canada is trampoline parks. (**Ed Pitoniak**, Vici’s CEO, told Commercial Observer in April 2025 that when he mastered the experiential retail approach, “I tell people I died and went to business heaven.”) ## Financial performance Vici’s second-quarter numbers reflected the boom times. It reported $1.1 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2026, up 5.7 percent annually. Revenue was also up on the half-year, the company said: $2.07 billion for the first six months of 2026 versus $1.99 billion during the same period in 2025. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO), a key profitability measure for real estate investment trusts (REITs), increased 7.8 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, to $679 million. On a per-share basis, AFFO was up 4.6 percent annually, to 62 cents. The REIT updated its previous AFFO guidance for 2026 from between $2.665 billion and $2.695 billion to between $2.675 billion and $2.695 billion and from $2.44 to $2.47 per share to between $2.45 and $2.47. The company did suffer a 39.1 percent annual decline in net income for the quarter to $526.5 million. It cited Current Expected Credit Loss — a forecast of possible market conditions, or tenant or borrower circumstances — for the decline. Executives also touted the $20.3 million acquisition with **Club Med** of the **Carambola Beach Resort** in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The deal closed in June. Vici has leased the property back to Club Med, and plans to spend $55.2 million redeveloping it. Payne said the Carambola will be Vici’s first build-to-suit project and represents its first property acquisition in the Caribbean. ## Entities - Real Estate (sector) - LAS VEGAS (location) - Commercial Observer (publication) - Tom Acitelli (person) - experiential retail (topic) - Vici Properties (company) - National Basketball Association (company) - las vegas development (topic) - John Payne (person) - Ed Pitoniak (person) - Club Med (company) - Carambola Beach Resort (company) --- Originally reported by Tom Acitelli, Commercial Observer (https://commercialobserver.com/2026/07/vici-properties-second-quarter-2026-nba/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/a4a5bed7-4ef7-4b5c-af0b-6202603ffd44).