NBA Owner Actively Pursuing An NHL Franchise To This City
With the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, the NHL expanded into Seattle in 2021.
Despite the high costs of owning an NHL expansion team, owners and the league have enjoyed substantial profits.
Houston suburbs are also willing to host the team, but Fertitta says he prefers for the franchise to play in downtown Houston.
Fertitta's Rockets currently play out of the Toyota Center, which recently underwent renovations to make it suitable for a hockey team.
As an example, Seattle Hockey Partners bought an ownership team for $650 Million, and the Kraken has developed a loyal fan base since then. With a valuation of $1.08 billion, the team has one of the highest valuations in the league.
Other billionaires, who have been in contact with Gary Bettman and the NHL, find this enticing.
Fertitta, the owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets, is still working Bettman's ear.
Fertitta believes that Houston would benefit from an NHL franchise, and Fertitta has been in talks with the NHL since at least 2017.
Fertitta has done all the right things to make Houston a viable expansion candidate, but it's a matter of when.
He has even gone so far as to renovate the Rockets' Toyota Center to make it suitable for a hockey team.
The last time a hockey team skated in Houston, one of the nation's largest cities, was in 2012-2013 before the Houston Aeros moved to Iowa.
In 2017, Fertitta said he would "put an NHL team here tomorrow" if he could.
While Bettman and Daly seem to have shrugged off the media's narrative of expansion, things seem to be intensifying elsewhere.
As Seen On: houstonchronicle.com
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 22 | 134 ANSWERS NBA Owner Actively Pursuing An NHL Franchise To This City Do you think the NHL should expand to Houston? | ||
| Yes | 45 | 33.6 % |
| No | 89 | 66.4 % |
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