Women's NBA team plans move to Vegas - report

NEW YORK: Once shunned by US sports leagues over concerns gambling ties could erode fan faith in uncompromised results, Las Vegas appears ready to welcome its third pro sports team in 16 months.

ESPN reported Friday that the San Antonio Stars of the Women's NBA will be sold to an undisclosed buyer who will relocate the team to Las Vegas for the 2018 season, citing unnamed sources.

The Stars, owned by the Spurs Sports and Entertainment (SS&E) group that owns the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, said Thursday they were in negotiations to sell the team to a buyer that would move the club but did not specify where.

"This was an extremely difficult decision as all of us at SS&E are proud of what the Stars have accomplished on the court and in the San Antonio community," a team statement said.

Should the Stars move to Vegas, they would join the National Hockey League Vegas Golden Knights, an expansion team finalized in June of last year that begin its opening season earlier this month, and arrive ahead of the NFL Oakland Raiders, who are set to move to Las Vegas in 2019 or 2020 and eventually into a new stadium.

The Stars were among the WNBA's original eight teams, spending their first six seasons as the Utah Starzz before moving to San Antonio in 2002.

The team reached the 2008 WNBA Finals, losing to Detroit, but have had the league's worst record three seasons in a row, going 8-26 this year. They haven't had a winning season since 2012 and haven't reached the playoffs since 2014.