NHL Exploring Houston, Austin For Expansion Team

The NHL is looking into putting a second team in Texas. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Tuesday that the league is exploring options to expand, with a team possibly heading to Houston or Austin, Texas.

According to an official press release by the National Hockey League, Commissioner Bettman named the Friedkin family, led by Dan Friedkin, CEO of The Friedkin Group, as the prospective owner of a potential 33rd NHL team, and they have since agreed to explore this opportunity. The family’s investment is approximately priced at $3.5 billion, which includes the cost of building a new arena and an expansion fee to the NHL. During this exploration phase, it’ll be decided whether the new team will call Houston or Austin its new home.

“We have been in discussions for the better part of two years with the Friedkin family, principally for the last two years, about Houston as an expansion opportunity,” Commissioner Bettman said in a press release. “But as we continued to focus with them, particularly on the need for a new arena in Houston, the discussions morphed into also a discussion about Austin, which would also need a new building. But we are going to work together under the terms, a term sheet that we were able to agree upon, in terms of a framework to consider what makes the most sense moving forward.”

“Ultimately, if we’re able to jointly reach a conclusion, at that time it would be subject to a vote of the Board of Governors,” Commissioner Bettman said. “That’s something that will unfold over the next six months, give or take.”

The Friedkin family, which also owns Italian soccer club AS Roma and English Premier League club Everton, released a statement saying the NHL agreement gives them “exclusive rights to bring an expansion team to Texas,” specifically in either Houston or Austin.

Through Pursuit Sports, the Friedkins’ “global sports ownership and operating platform,” the family released a statement saying the agreement with the NHL gives it exclusive rights to bring an expansion team to Texas, with a focus on Austin or Houston.

“Each city brings unique attributes that would make a new team a huge success,” the Friedkin family’s statement read. “Both have the infrastructure, passionate fan bases, and economic strength needed to support a championship-caliber franchise for years to come.”

As for the Dallas Stars, who became a team in 1993 when the Minnesota North Stars franchise relocated to the city, Commissioner Bettman asserted that they don’t have exclusive rights to be the only Texas NHL squad. In fact, Bettman believes the Stars organization will “think it’s good for hockey in Texas.”

The head of the NHL also added that this expansion into either the Houston or Austin market doesn’t automatically rule out a potential expansion into Atlanta or Arizona.

The NHL last expanded the league to 32 teams for the 2021-22 season, welcoming the Seattle Kraken to the ice.