<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gary Bettman announces NHL may expand; will accept bids in July. New teams would play in 2017-18. Expansion fee: half a billion $ or more.</p>— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/613811176858877956">June 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> "Las Vegas, Quebec City and Seattle are the chief front runners, although dark horses like Kansas City, Houston, Hartford, or a second team in the Toronto area could make their case as well. Southern Ontario is another option."
<blockquoteclass="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heard stories that Les Alexander is the only one with the means who wants to bring an NHL team to Houston, but that the NHL don't like him.</p>— Mike K (@Zepp1978) <a href="https://twitter.com/Zepp1978/status/613813946013736961">June 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script asyncsrc="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
2005 attempt for Les to bring a team to Houston: http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Groundwork-laid-to-bring-NHL-to-Houston-1948221.php
Les won't share Toyota Center, so either he owns it or no Houston team. That's how I remember it going down.
Yeah Les is the only option to bring a team here. But the facility is already ready to host a NHL team, $500MM expansion fee is steep but I could see Les paying it.
I'm sure the two expansion teams will be in the western geographical side because the Western Conference have 14 teams and the Eastern Conference have 16 teams. I wish Houston would be in the mix as one of the top front-runners but I don't think Les is interested like he was before. Even, Texans owner Bob McNair has a interest in bringing an NHL team to Houston before he brought the NFL team back in Houston. If it's not Houston, I'm guessing Seattle and Kansas City. No way Bettman and the NHL would reward Las Vegas a hockey team because they will lose a lot of money from gambling casinos betting on their games.
One of the main reasons I've never really gotten into the NHL is because Houston hasn't had a team. I think it would be pretty cool if we got one, although I doubt it.
The Quebec Nordiques should once again be a NHL team. There are 750k hockey crazed people in that region and they have a new arena. If the NHL expands to 32 chances are the teams will be out west to balance the conferences. If that is the case then I would hope a team like the Panthers who only fill half of their arena get relocated to Quebec and have the 2 new teams fall where they may. Chances are they would look for one pacific and one central team to keep the west even so either Houston or Kansas City for the one franchise and then either Seattle, Las Vegas or maybe even Portland for the other.
There is a great, pretty long article explaining the hockey situation in Houston and it was written by a Defending Big D writer. Which is amazing that it was a positive article for Htown. I do not know how to post links and every time I try it messes up but it's not hard to find with a simple search, defending big d/Houston hockey, popped right up. It just amazes me that so many hockey fans around the country just pass Houston off. Even a Dallas writer said that Houston not having a hockey team has nothing to do with lack of fan support, Houston has supported both WHA/IHL-AHL Aeros very well for non NHL hockey. Points out the obvious fact that no owner is coming to Toyota Center and paying Les concessions/parking which he made sure was in contract along with a relocation fee if an owner were to try and move a team here. For an expansion team, a owner would have to spend $500 mil for expansion fee then still pay Les concessions/parking. Just not gonna happen unless Les owns team. The only thing the Dallas writer didn't include was the fact Houston can financially support any team even if fans aren't showing up b/c of the corporations buying up suites. Suites are so big now, take a look at 49ers new stadium, it's almost like one whole side is a hotel with a small section near bottom for expensive low seats. The stadium LA wants to build has the same thing. When a city can guarantee profits, they should be included in the mix when talking expansion or relocation. Plus, the hockey fans in Houston will show up just like they have before. Hopefully we can have the Aeros name again when it finally happens.
Apparently Quebec and Las Vegas have the leg up as they have officially placed a bid for expansion. Quebec submitted theirs under the name Nordiques so I guess Colorado either doesn't own the name after the move or they don't mind returning it back to Quebec. Las Vegas submitted under the name Black Knights. Obviously if the league expands which wouldn't happen until 17-18 at the earliest I think we would be looking at another realignment of the conferences and divisons. We already have a 16/14 split between the east and west and with these new teams you would have to either take Quebec or poach another eastern team like the Wings, Jackets or Hurricanes to the west which just doesn't make sense. I was playing around with realignment, and I think the best thing to do would be to go to a NFL style breakdown where you have a mix of both east and west teams in the same division. It would look something like this. Conference A East Canadians Nordiques Bruins Sabres North Maple Leafs Senators Jets Wild South Predators Blues Stars Avalanche West Flames Oilers Canucks Sharks Conference B North Rangers Islanders Devils Flyers East Penguins Wings Blue Jackets Blackhawks South Capitals Hurricanes Lightning Panthers West Kings Ducks Coyotes Black Knights
It's just a matter of time before an NHL team decides to move to Houston, frankly the other options outside Seattle is a joke and they still only have Key Arena. To put cities like Quebec/Vegas/KC in front of Houston is proving the NHL hasn't learned from past mistakes (esp the mistake of not including the WHA Aeros in merger back in the 70's.) Their might be hockey crazed fans in Quebec but it's still a small market, whereas Texas is the 2nd biggest and fastest growing state in nation and there's only one team in the north part of it. It's not enough, if the NHL is serious about growing the sport they would get the 10th biggest television market in USA which would immediately start a TX rivalry and even more Texans (Austin/SA) would care about NHL. Every other professional league has figured this out. How many Astros/Ranger fans are there outside of Houston/DFW areas? TX is a huge state even w/o it's two largest populations. Since Austin Stars are the AHL affiliate to Dallas, I'm sure the NHL would get SA as our affiliate. Which would make their AHL rivalry that much better and would spill over into NHL much like minor league baseball has helped the MLB in that area. Their might be Stars fans that think of Houston as their territory and don't want to lose us. The majority in Houston does not pay attention to the Stars, I've personally been a Penguins fan since EA Sports Hockey on Sega Genesis in early 90's and did not care when Dallas got their team. In 1999 when they won the Stanley Cup, I remember going to Copperfield Bowling with friends over watching them and I had just watched the Aeros win the IHL Turner Cup a couple weeks earlier. A team in Houston would make us notice and care what's going on in our division esp our in state rival. Money wise it's better to be hated than not noticed at all. For the NHL it boils down to, do they really want to grow and expand the sport of hockey? If the answer is yes, then Houston/Seattle should be first two in line to get the next expansion or relocation. Any of the non NHL Canadian cities are hockey fans already, doesn't actually grow the sport itself. The 5th biggest metropolis in USA can create new hockey players, there is only 1 NHL Houstonian playing for Buffalo presently, could be way more if WHA Aeros had merged into NHL or even gotten an expansion team in 1997. Houston can guarantee profits using corporate suites and already has supported non NHL hockey, twice. Plus, many international & northern US transplant citizens all around in abundance. It's no wonder why hockey fans around the country hate on Houston but the NHL should be doing whatever it takes to get a team here.
I'm with you. I just finished living in the St. Louis area for a couple of years, and I really enjoyed being in a place that loved hockey, and it was a lot of fun going to Blues games. Unfortunately, I just can't see the NHL ever really coming to Houston any time in the foreseeable future. Obviously, it's off the table until at least the next post-17/18 round of expansion (if there is another round after this), and even then, I can't see Houston being ahead of Seattle, a second Toronto-area team, and Kansas City in the pecking order. On top of those cities probably having better cases anyway, it likely doesn't help Houston's case that the Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers are struggling so much to draw fan interest. Even Bettman, who has been big into pushing expansion into sunbelt cities, would probably have to think twice before putting another team in the south. Sure, Vegas isn't a traditional hockey locale or anything, but I think that's more of a one-off that any indication that the league is looking to expand into more non-traditional places. The league seems dead set on having a team there regardless and it feels like an NHL pet project to be the first major pro sports franchise to stake a claim to Las Vegas.
Have my doubts Houston would support Hockey. (Although from quick research, looks like the Aeros were always top ten in attendance from 2005-06 until their final year here.) And arena issue? Didn't the Aeros [partially] leave because Les and/or Toyota Center wasn't willing to pay what the Minnesota Wild wanted?
I have very little doubt that Houston would support an NHL team well...mostly because of its sheer size and economics. The NHL is a corporate game. The Aeros left because Les forced them out. He jacked up the rent on them exponentially, and said it was because he could make more money hosting concerts than being their landlord. They were already paying rent in excess of what other minor league hockey teams were paying...and he more than doubled it. Some people thought that was happening because he wants a team here that he owns. If he did, this would be the time to show that. He doesn't...and he's the only guy who can for all practical purposes. I've read some articles in the past that indicated the guys in the NHL don't like him much...but they'd like him fine if he paid the $500 million expansion fee. Make no mistake about it...if Les were willing to pay that fee and house the team at the Toyota Center, the NHL would be coming to Houston. The market is way too big to pass up. The NHL commissioned their own study that said that very thing. I just wish his deal with the Toyota Center didn't shut out the possibility of others owning an NHL team here.
I don't know a ton about the maneuvering of the NHL, but it does seem like Houston would've been a great market pre-Lockout. In retrospect, we seem like the ideal market for the Sunbelt expansion era boom, but it never happened. It seems like the NHL wants a team in Las Vegas before any other league and that's probably smart. There's so much money to be made there that it could offset the smaller market impact of a team in a die-hard market like Quebec City. QC could be another Winnipeg: a market that lives and breathes hockey, but won't break the bank outside of its province.
i'd love NHL hockey here in houston... but only two bids is just comical. http://www.houstonpress.com/news/houston-passes-up-expansion-hockey-7615495
[rquoter]AP source: NHL settles on Las Vegas for expansion A person with direct knowledge of the NHL's decision says the league has settled on Las Vegas as its choice for expansion, provided organizers can come up with a $500 million fee. The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because details have not been released by the league ahead of its Board of Governors meeting on June 22. Quebec City was also considered for expansion. A second person who had been briefed on the decision said Las Vegas was a "done deal" following the recommendation of the NHL's executive committee. The 2017-18 season would be the earliest the league would expand. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had proposed an expansion fee of $500 million, a significant jump from the $80 million paid by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild, when the NHL last expanded to 30 teams in 2000. The Las Vegas bid, led by Bill Foley, says it has secured more than 13,200 season-ticket deposits for a potential team. A 20,000-seat multipurpose arena near the Las Vegas Strip opened in April.[/rquoter]