MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With the NBA Playoffs right around the corner, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted Monday on an agreement that will keep the Memphis Grizzlies in the Bluff City until at least the 2028-2029 NBA season.
The agreement provides for as much as $18.5 million over nine seasons from Shelby County, which began with the 2020-2021 NBA season, including up to $1.975 million from the county's general budget fund for Fiscal Year 2023.
The agreement will now have to be approved by the NBA.
The vote came when the team's "early termination clause" came into effect due to low average attendance in the 2019-2020 season. This clause would have allowed the team to relocate to any city it wanted to unless the city or county agreed to purchase enough tickets to make up the shortfall.
The new agreement allows the team to stay in place until its lease expires in 2029, at which point the city and county commissions will have to negotiate a new lease agreement with the team.
The Grizzlies tied a franchise record for wins in a single season this year, going 56-26 and locking in the Western Conference's #2 seed for the NBA Playoffs.
New excitement has surrounded the team thanks to national attention around superstar Ja Morant, and one of the deepest lineups in basketball.
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The Grizzlies tip off their first game of the playoffs Saturday, April 16, at 2:30 p.m.