Bettman tells BoG league is officially opening expansion process for Houston or Austin to be owned by Friedkin family

[thestonedkoala]

It would be embarrassing to lose this chance to a far smaller city like Austin. Any Austin team would be essentially Columbus 2.0. That said, the fact that their name is being mentioned has me worried.

You know that Austin is the 12th largest city in the US right? And the 25th largest metropolitan area in the US?

Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, San Jose are smaller than Austin.

Comparing it to Houston. Yeah it's smaller. But that's like comparing New York City and Buffalo.

Austin has a lot of draws including having sustained a hockey team for a while and getting some big crowds. There are also a lot of transplants and big businesses here.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Anything more than 24 is too many teams

The owners disagree.

 

[uhlaw97]

Oh don't worry. I'm well aware.

Still, Houston is 3 x as large, and has the second most fortune 500 HQs in the country behind only NYC.

NOT having a franchise in a market like that while having them in markets that have so much less seems like a bona fide travesty.

Let's hope that that doesn't happen.

I guess one factor in Houston's favor is the fact that Tilman Fertitta has now publicly said that he'd be willing to let any Houston NHL franchise play in Toyota Center on an interim basis while the new NHL arena is completed. Given that any new arena will take time to build, and that Austin doesn't really have any existing arena that could compare as an interim team venue, that might be an advantage for Houston.

 

[nucks88]

The owners disagree.

Who cares what a bunch of sleazy billionaires think? The league is a watered down shadow of what it was. But I guess money rules everything is certain parts of the world.

 

[canuckslover10]

Anything more than 32 is too many teams.

Money talks.

 

[PistolPete]

Who cares what a bunch of sleazy billionaires think? The league is a watered down shadow of what it was. But I guess money rules everything is certain parts of the world.

And you continue to watch.

The sleazy billionaires thank you for your hollow moral objections

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Who cares what a bunch of sleazy billionaires think? The league is a watered down shadow of what it was. But I guess money rules everything is certain parts of the world.

But that is the whole point: The owners couldn't care less what the fans think about this so long as the great masses of "average fans" continue to buy their entertainment product and thereby transfer a piece of their wealth to the owners.

Each owner will basically get a free ~$50 million for each new expansion team so there will be expansion.

 

[1989]

I fully admit I'm very uneducated about this other than I have heard Houston being thrown around as a potential new expansion location in recent years, but my questions are:

1) Is it not weird Ontario is not getting consideration for a second team before Texas? and;
2) How do Dallas fans feel? Especially ones who don't live in the DFW area already?

 

[uncleben]

I fully admit I'm very uneducated about this other than I have heard Houston being thrown around as a potential new expansion location in recent years, but my questions are:

1) Is it not weird Ontario is not getting consideration for a second team before Texas? and;
2) How do Dallas fans feel? Especially ones who don't live in the DFW area already?

Um... should somebody tell them, or...

 

[1989]

Um... should somebody tell them, or...

I meant a second real competitive team, like Ottawa.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

4 divisions, 8 teams per division. 32 teams.

That's balanced and makes sense. Any more and things are awkward and it diluted the talent pool. Please stop.

People have been bemoaning expansion saying the same thing yet the game has been even better and the sport itself has seen a big surge in popularity.

Players are NHL ready sooner and declining later, two more teams is only 46 more actual NHL jobs, is that really going to dilute the league?
I think people would sing a different tune if Quebec or another Canadian city was getting a team but sadly there's American cities with the right demographics and populations that make way more sense.

 

[uhlaw97]

I fully admit I'm very uneducated about this other than I have heard Houston being thrown around as a potential new expansion location in recent years, but my questions are:

1) Is it not weird Ontario is not getting consideration for a second team before Texas? and;
2) How do Dallas fans feel? Especially ones who don't live in the DFW area already?

The Dallas people will eat this up for a variety of reasons.

Dallas and Houston are huge rivals in other professional sports.

This will give the Stars the same natural geographic rival that they currently lack.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Real question is can the Wild trade the defunct Aero's branding for the defunct North Stars

 

[PistolPete]

I fully admit I'm very uneducated about this other than I have heard Houston being thrown around as a potential new expansion location in recent years, but my questions are:

1) Is it not weird Ontario is not getting consideration for a second team before Texas? and;
2) How do Dallas fans feel? Especially ones who don't live in the DFW area already?

There is no third city in Ontario to host a team. Hamilton is out because of territory rights.

And no way TML allows a second team unless maybe they get the entire expansion fee.

And the league wants to expand its fan base by creating NEW fsn bases and it can only do thst by going into new msrkets

 

[FMichael]

Anything more than 32 is too many teams.

And 32 is a few too many...