NHL Expansion back on agenda?

[um]

GTA2/Hamilton, Virginia Beach keeps sniffing around, they could flip Nashville to the Eastern Conference, at an extreme stretch, Indianapolis or Cincinnati, there are a couple things they can do if needed. Or, tbh, just live with 35 until something makes sense.

GTA 2 with Bell being the owner would be something.

 

[uhlaw97]

Given that Fertitta owns the arena inside which any hypothetical Houston NHL franchise would play, it is a given that he will need to be at least the 51% owner of any such franchise.

Perhaps he can get a bunch of other local investors together and come up with a bid no other city or potential owner can match.

 

[voyageur]

Tampa though is an established brand of 30 years, with an established fan base (and Stanley Cup winning pedigree) so I would expect them to be valued more than an expansion team in Houston or Atlanta.

But yeah - maybe Fertitta is trying to hold them to something closer to $1.2 billion, and the NHL is trying to go higher.

If the value of an expansion franchise is a $1 billion, he would have bought the Coyotes before Ryan Smith did. NHL would have taken $1 billion for that team to play in a full arena in a market that fit its needs.


I think Fertitta's number is considerably lower than a $1 billion. I don't think he wanted to get in at $500 million when the NHL was sniffing at the market. Maybe now, but seems like he doesn't think an NHL franchise is worth all that much. And maybe the numbers being thrown out are inflated, based on 2 recent sales.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

They basically had to build a Mini city to do it.

Existing and new arenas and stadiums around every league are building entertainment venues. This isn’t unique to the Braves.

 

[Headshot77]

Existing and new arenas and stadiums around every league are building entertainment venues. This isn’t unique to the Braves.

The Braves kinda did it first though

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

The Braves kinda did it first though

Not at all. They even had the St Louis Cardinals as consultants since there’s is/was so successful

And I realize this is a stretch, but many arenas like Bridgestone and anything in Vegas are already surrounded by similar developments. Older venues like Fenway have had entertainment venues moving into surrounding spaces for a long time. It’s not a new concept.

 

[hangman005]

We built out entertainment district long before the arena.

 

[Tawnos]

Not at all. They even had the St Louis Cardinals as consultants since there’s is/was so successful

And I realize this is a stretch, but many arenas like Bridgestone and anything in Vegas are already surrounded by similar developments. Older venues like Fenway have had entertainment venues moving into surrounding spaces for a long time. It’s not a new concept.

I do think there's a distinction that needs to be made in the "mini city" concept. And that's residential. Most of the projects now include more than just entertainment and retail.

But to your point, it's not a new concept. Hell, IIRC Phase 2 of Westgate in Glendale was supposed to include residential and that goes back over 15 years. I think apartments eventually got built, but someone else can confirm or refute.

 

[Voight]

GTA 2 with Bell being the owner would be something.

Bell is broke. They sold their part of MLSE because they have enormous amounts of debt. They were downgraded to just above junk bonds last week.

 

[aqib]

https://www.chron.com/sports/article/tilman-fertitta-nhl-team-houston-19789684.php

"The NHL would be great in Houston, and they're looking to expand," Fertitta said at the unveiling of the Memorial Herman Houston Rockets Training Facility. "We're hoping that no team right now meets the price that they want [for] the expansion team. We're hoping somehow we can get the team by being one the best cities in America and paying the right price."

The price keeps rising. He could have had the Coyotes if he had been willing to pay the $1.2B that Smith paid. I keep pointing out he lost the bidding for the Rockets because he bid $80 million and Alexander bid $85 million. He winds up buying them years later for $2.2 billion. He's repeaating the error.