NHL exploring Texas expansion options in Houston and Austin, says AP source – Houston Public Media

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file

NEW YORK — The NHL is exploring a possible expansion into Texas, with Houston and Austin among possibilities, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The league’s Board of Directors had their annual post-Stanley Cup final and pre-draft meeting Tuesday in New York. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the expansion consideration had not been announced. ESPN and Sportsnet were the first to report the move.

While there is no guarantee that the NHL will add a 33rd team, it is a first step toward becoming the largest professional sports league in North America, surpassing the NFL. Commissioner Gary Bettman has been careful to say in recent years that officials were listening to expressions of interest from potential owners in places like Houston and Atlanta but were not yet pursuing a formal path to expansion.

Last year there were discussions between the NHL and Houston billionaire Dan Friedkin about bringing a professional team to Houston. In early 2024, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta was reportedly in talks with the NHL.

Houston has never been home to an NHL franchise, but previously had two professional hockey teams both called the Aeros. The first team competed in the former World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1978 and was led by hockey legend Gordie Howe and won two national championships. The second iteration of the Eros was a minor league team that played in the International Hockey League and American Hockey League from 1994-2013.

The Houston region will get a junior hockey team as the Houston Bulls, a new name in the North American Hockey League, move from Iowa to the Houston suburb of Richmond for the 2026-2027 season.

The league most recently expanded to 32 teams, with the Seattle Kraken beginning play in 2021 after the Vegas Golden Knights entered the 2017-2018 season. Before that, there were 30 teams since 2000, when Columbus and Minnesota came in.

The recent success stories, combined with booming franchise values ​​across the sport, have fueled discussion of expansion in hockey circles, especially since expansion fees could top $1 billion. Seattle paid $650 million and Las Vegas $500 million.

From Florida to Texas to California and places in between, the NHL has enjoyed strong popularity in the Sun Belt and non-traditional hockey markets over the past four decades. Teams were added in South Florida and Tampa in Florida, San Jose and Anaheim in California, Nashville, Tennessee and Las Vegas, while the moves brought teams to Dallas and Raleigh, North Carolina, Denver and elsewhere.

Teams in those places have won the Stanley Cup the last seven straight years and 13 times during Colorado’s championship run in 1995-96.

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