The Lone Star State appears to be on the cusp of adding another NHL franchise if the latest reports out of Texas prove true, and it could come as early as this year.
According to deputy commissioner Bill Daly, the league is exploring either a Houston or Austin based franchise to become the league’s 33rd member. While the franchise announcement appears to be imminent, the team won’t be taking the ice until at least the 2029-30 season at the earliest.
“We’re moving forward in Texas,” Daly told reporters at the NHL’s European Media Tour. “I expect ultimately we’ll be in a position to bring something to the board to get their view on it. So, that’s proceeding at a pace. We’ll probably get together with the group again in September and kind of see where they are in the process and what they want us to do to help, to the extent they need anything.”
“If we finalize that and the board approves it, then (at the) end of this calendar year we’ll have an announcement that we’re expanding to either Houston or Austin.”
Per Daly, there’s already a Houston area billionaire (Dan Friedkin) who has verbally agreed to pay the $2B expansion fee should a team be awarded to either Texas based city. While there are still some significant hurdles to clear, most notably the finalization of an arena agreement with one of the cities, the league appears bullish on the prospects of getting another in state team.
While Houston is the larger market of the two, Daly doesn’t view population as the sole driver of the league’s decision, pointing towards the league’s move to add a franchise in Las Vegas back in 2017.
“I view Austin to be similar to our decision to move into Las Vegas at a time where the other leagues weren’t considering it in part because of the size of the market and mid-size nature of it,” said Daly. “We needed to satisfy ourselves that there was kind of a sufficient fanbase there that would embrace the club locally. We probably got lucky along the way, but as it’s turned out, the city is in love with that franchise. I would even distinguish it from at least football, with respect to whether the (Raiders) fanbase really exists in Las Vegas or whether it’s a tourist fanbase.”
“I think (the Golden Knights) have clearly proven that the locals, the people who live in and around Vegas, are supporting that franchise.”
If the league does indeed approve one of the Texas based locations as their newest member, that also paves the way to add a 34th in an effort to maintain balance between divisions and conferences. While the location of the other franchise remains very much up in the air, both Phoenix and Atlanta have been floated as potential landing spots for another club.
Atlanta last had an NHL team back in 2011 prior to the team relocating to Winnipeg, while Phoenix had a team until 2024 when the club was relocated to Utah. Both cities inclusion as possible expansion sites appears to underscore an ongoing theme during commissioner Gary Bettman’s tenure at the helm of the NHL. That of a dogged determination to prove that hockey works in the Sunbelt states.
That almost singular focus on these locales is likely a good indication of the direction of the league, though groups from Kansas City, Quebec City, and Milwaukee remain very much interested in expansion discussions. While not as far along as the others, groups from Portland, and San Diego have reportedly kicked the tires on what an expansion process could look like, though ownership and arena details regarding those locations remain very much in the infancy stages.
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