NHL has met with Dan Friedkin several times about bringing NHL to Houston

[Cas]

...research on what, the fact that it failed twice already??...I remember when the FLAMES moved from Atlanta...so I suppose the NEXT time Atlanta fails, Quebec City FINALLY gets a team back, since that seems to be the recipe here; fail there again and move to a Canadian city that can actually support it...

Baseball can't work in Washington.

 

[CostaRica]

Here's a couple of question to you: Why would anyone pay money to be a fan of a NHL team if there are more and more teams in the league and you get farther and farther from seeing your team win a Stanley Cup? Who in their right mind would pay for a season ticket in a league with 36 teams and you'll have to wait an entire lifetime for your team to even make the playoffs?

What selling point other than "hope" of seeing your team win is there in sports? For each team that is added, that hope decreases.

Only one thing would hold me back paying to watch NHL hockey, it’s too expensive for me.
Plenty of good talent to go around and it’s good to see the growth in the game.
Canadians especially need to drop the inferiority complex, you’ll still be the best for a long time!

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Baseball can't work in Washington.

...apples and oranges...Hockey is a "niche" sport in much of the US, baseball is their National Pasttime...

 

[Aeroforce]

My experience with Houston is being on a road trip that took me through it. Like many cities west of the Mississippi, it's more spread out than it is dense, at least so it seemed like to me. Got to drive on the "famous" stretch of I-10 that's 24 lanes wide (including service roads), stayed the night in Channelview after getting lost trying to get to where we were staying because of the "Texas U-turn" style of exits off I-10, and left the next day.

If it's as spread out as I perceived it to be, that could be an issue with a suburban arena location, like it was when the Coyotes played in Glendale, unless the Houston area has most of its current hockey fans concentrated in and around one of them and it's also an affluent area (that's why Scottsdale probably could have worked for the Coyotes, and why the Atlanta arena proposals are where they are).

@Aeroforce what do you think since you live in the area? Is there a location in the Houston area like that without being in Houston proper? Although, it's good to know that the Toyota Center is getting pretty old so the city might consider replacing it fairly soon. I did not know that about it.

You are indeed correct on Houston being spread out.

Yes, the suburban areas are affluent, but like you mentioned with Glendale, that could dissuade people from making the trek; especially if the team is mediocre, which playing in Houston is almost a given.

One of the reasons I think the NHL finds Houston and Atlanta appealing is their desire to diversity the fan base. However they measure it, a few years ago a study deemed Houston the "Most diverse" city in the country. From my experience, this is true. I would imagine in that regard staying closer to town is a better idea.

I checked and Wells Fargo opened in '96, and Toyota Center in '03. Only a seven year difference, but on the other hand, I haven't seen complaints about other buildings in that age range.

I was kinda joking but about the Astrodome location, but it's actually a good idea. I have no idea why it's still standing, taking up valuable real estate. It's right by NRG Stadium, which has light rail, parking, and freeway access. NRG has hosted multiple Superbowls, Final Fours, etc.

There might be a temporary issue in March with the rodeo, but just send the Aeros on their West Coast swing while that's going on.

I'm maybe a bit biased on wanting the Astrodome demolished, from childhood trauma watching the Astros and Oliers snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in unfathomable ways. But I do like the Philadelphia idea of having sports venues in one location, maximizing parking and public transportation since teams rarely play on the same day.

(That's a picture of the Astrodome in the shadow of NRG, that's not showing up.

https://cdn.houstonpublicmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/22171236/IMG_0690copy.jpg

 

[NYRfan85]

I was kinda joking but about the Astrodome location, but it's actually a good idea. I have no idea why it's still standing, taking up valuable real estate. It's right by NRG Stadium, which has light rail, parking, and freeway access. NRG has hosted multiple Superbowls, Final Fours, etc.

The Astrodome is a historic landmark, so it can't be torn down. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2014.

 

[Chainshot]

Ehh it's hard to argue when they're missing some major markets (like Houston) that the other big 3 have.

Realistically, the NHL has about 24 "major" markets (less if you dont want to consider Buffalo or Columbus) where the other 3 have 28ish at minimum.

It would take the NHL going to 34 at minimum to have the same amount of major markets

The issue with that is if the league is leaning into TV ratings, Buffalo is one of their best markets even with such a shit product. WNY rates highly in non-Sabre broadcasts and is among out-of-market leaders for playoff viewing. For getting eyes on their sport and generating ad revenue, they are fine.

As for Columbus, they're 14th in the entire US in terms of pop (over 900K). They do just fine, plus that doesn't include the OSU student population that bulks up Columbus by about 65K of people looking for things to do which would put them just inside the top 10.

 

[Summer Rose]

You are indeed correct on Houston being spread out.

Yes, the suburban areas are affluent, but like you mentioned with Glendale, that could dissuade people from making the trek; especially if the team is mediocre, which playing in Houston is almost a given.

One of the reasons I think the NHL finds Houston and Atlanta appealing is their desire to diversity the fan base. However they measure it, a few years ago a study deemed Houston the "Most diverse" city in the country. From my experience, this is true. I would imagine in that regard staying closer to town is a better idea.

I checked and Wells Fargo opened in '96, and Toyota Center in '03. Only a seven year difference, but on the other hand, I haven't seen complaints about other buildings in that age range.

I was kinda joking but about the Astrodome location, but it's actually a good idea. I have no idea why it's still standing, taking up valuable real estate. It's right by NRG Stadium, which has light rail, parking, and freeway access. NRG has hosted multiple Superbowls, Final Fours, etc.

There might be a temporary issue in March with the rodeo, but just send the Aeros on their West Coast swing while that's going on.

I'm maybe a bit biased on wanting the Astrodome demolished, from childhood trauma watching the Astros and Oliers snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in unfathomable ways. But I do like the Philadelphia idea of having sports venues in one location, maximizing parking and public transportation since teams rarely play on the same day.

(That's a picture of the Astrodome in the shadow of NRG, that's not showing up.

https://cdn.houstonpublicmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/22171236/IMG_0690copy.jpg

Never considered that could be a possible motivation of the NHL for seeking out Atlanta and Houston. They obviously have more than one reason, but I would assume that the primary reason is in order to capture the very large TV markets that Atlanta and Houston are (also why they fought so hard to keep saving Phoenix from shitty ownership, since it's one of the bigger TV markets in the country).

Phoenix has a sports venue that's not too much older than the Toyota Center itself. Chase Field opened for the 1998 inaugural season of the Arizona Diamondbacks. I don't follow the Diamondbacks much, but I've heard about them wanting a new stadium for... reasons. I'm just going to assume so they can make more money, because it's kind of idiotic to replace what's a pretty nice stadium in a prime location in downtown Phoenix (it's right next to the Suns' arena).

You could definitely send the Houston NHL team on a road trip during the rodeo. Lots of teams (in the NHL or otherwise) do something similar when there's another big event in town instead.

Also, your image showed up when I quoted you, but not when I was originally reading your post. Odd.

 

[MoneyManny]

Is the endgame to have 20+ teams tanking simultaneously every year while a handful compete?

I feel like the NHL is going to stretch the rubberband until it snaps.

 

[TheNewEra]

That's their choice. Every year we have guys playing in the AHL that should be in the NHL, too.

we also have players that are in the league that really shouldnt be but are either because some gm values a 40 year old player or because someone gave them a bad contract. The league actually got some recognition when it puts a good product on the ice. The focus should be on the product first prior to expansion.

The last few years most fans can generally see the bottom feeders going into the season and those bottom feeders arent even competitive. Those fans have to suffer with the hope of improvement and now we are looking to make more bottom feeders so it will be harder to improve.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I don't know when this would be estimated to happen, but gut says expansion is a really bad idea as the cap explodes over the next few years.

As the majority of players are still on their old contracts, and the upcoming FA's prefer teams where they can in their minds win/the most popular destinations to live, I think we'll see more teams at the cap floor and contenders spending to 110M with stacked rosters.

Buffalo already had money and the will to spend it this off-season but absolutely nothing to spend it on that made sense. More teams will be in the same situation after the good teams spend every dollar.

 

[Cas]

...apples and oranges...Hockey is a "niche" sport in much of the US, baseball is their National Pasttime...

Baseball was such a national pastime that the nation's capital, one of the largest cities and media markets in the country, lost two teams in twelve years and couldn't get another one for more than thirty.

Atlanta is even bigger. A hockey team in Atlanta would be fine, provided they're not horribly mismanaged.

 

[hangman005]

Baseball was such a national pastime that the nation's capital, one of the largest cities and media markets in the country, lost two teams in twelve years and couldn't get another one for more than thirty.

Atlanta is even bigger. A hockey team in Atlanta would be fine, provided they're not horribly mismanaged.

even just having an owner that didn't want to out right get rid of them would be a massive step up.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Enough with the expansion FFS!!!

League is already oversaturated as it is.

 

[ozzie]

No doubt Houston is a solid market and deserves a team. Has a good history of support in WHA and AHL, or at least a good legacy. Unfurntately not sure expansion is such a great idea, I'm not sure which weak link team should go either. They really should have had a team already.

Lets just add Hamilton, Quebec, Houston, Milwaukee, Indianapolous, Atlanta and go for 40 teams and be done with it. Imaginge the scoring levels!

 

[Section 104]

Personally I'd like to see relegation...That would open the door to more teams.

Relegation is an idiot idea from an idiot sport (soccer).

FWIW two cities in baseball that have strong fan support: Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, went 86 and 109 years without winning a championship

As far as watering down the product, I heard those complaints in the late 1960s when they doubled the number of teams from 6 to 12.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Only if we also get more TV timeouts and ads on jerseys.

Bettman and rich asshole owners:

 

[Mosby]

Just move Utah

Nahhh

 

[SI90]

32 teams feels like a perfect number. Let’s not get crazy

 

[OVO16]

Atlanta and Houston being the east and west markets getting a team seems pretty obvious.

I'm not a huge fan of it but I'm also not opposed to it. Atlanta and Houston are both Top 5-7 markets in the US in terms of population. High growth markets too. Atlanta in 2012, is nowhere near the Atlanta now in 2025.

Would do well to grow the game in the South and overall. But as others have pointed out, the league would become oversaturated