The NHL is serious about expansion
Gary Bettman announced yesterday that the NHL expansion process has started.
And a new city has emerged.
Along with previous reports that Seattle and Las Vegas were serious contenders, Quebec City has entered the mix.
I’d love to see another Canadian team in the league.
Seattle is a hockey crazy town and considered a front runner by many. But just like they lost the Sonics due to funding, there is no construction in place. Las Vegas is already building, but many question if the city of transplants can support a hockey team with all of the distractions.
CBC shares more insight:
Las Vegas, Seattle and Quebec City are the markets that have expressed the most serious interest. A second team in the Toronto area leads the list of additional possibilities for any prospect owner with the likely $500 million expansion fee and a passion for hockey.
“The fact we are going through this process doesn’t mean we are going to expand,” Bettman said. “All it means is we’re going to stop just listening to expressions of interest and take a good, hard look at what they actually mean and represent.”
The Board of Governors met in Las Vegas on Wednesday before the NHL Awards and decided that the league will take formal applications for new franchises on July 6, closing the process Aug. 10.
The NHL hasn’t decided how many clubs it might add, and it doesn’t anticipate expansion before the 2017-18 season, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. Bettman indicated that an expansion fee would be at least $500 million, to be distributed among the existing clubs.
The Board of Governors also formalized the rule changes that were approved Tuesday in a meeting of the league’s general managers. The NHL will play three-on-three hockey in overtime this fall, and coaches will be able to challenge certain goal calls on video replay. The NHL also is instituting minor changes to faceoff procedures.
But expansion is the most intriguing prospect for a league that has been at 30 teams since the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild began play in 2000, with those ownership groups paying $80 million apiece to buy in.
Image courtesy of dszpiro.
