Gary Bettman reportedly increases NHL expansion fees by an insane amount

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Josh tupper
September 16, 2023 (9:54)

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The NHL has stated on multiple occasions that they aren't currently looking to expand. After the successful addition of both the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken to the league it is only a matter of time before the league expands again. With the league already connected to multiple destinations is only a matter of when and not if the league expands.

When the Seattle Kraken entered the league they did so at an expansion fee of 650 million dollars. This rose over 150 million from the fee paid by the Golden Knights just a few years earlier.

Now according to insider Darren Dreger, Gary Bettman appears to have his sights set on a massive fee for the next possible franchise. Dreger reports the next expansion fee could be in the neighborhood of 2 billion dollars.

As the NHL continues to acknowledge, expansion is not a priority, however, sources suggest, if the league considers expansion in the next 5 years.$2 billion could be the number. 😳

While in the grand scheme of things this may not seem like much to billionaire owners, but this appears to be a very unrealistic ask. According to Sportico's most recent valuations only 2 NHL teams are currently valued at over 2 billion dollars. A valuation of 2 billion dollars would put a potential franchise just behind both the Maple Leafs and Rangers in terms of value.

While it seems like Bettman has found another potential revenue stream for just the owners, it appears he may already be bungling what has so far been a successful expansion process.