NBA owner wants to bring an NHL franchise to his city; talks have intensified

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Cooper Godin
February 22, 2024 (9:15)

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The talk of expansion in the National Hockey League has heated up over the last six to twelve months, with numerous cities expressing interest in having a franchise with Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Salt Lake City and Atlanta are two of the cities that have made it well-known recently that they are wanting an NHL team, but recently, Tilman Fertitta, owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets said that talks with the league have intensified to bring a second franchise to the state of Texas.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Fertitta shared that he believes having a National Hockey League franchise in Houston will bring a massive economic boost to the downtown core.

"We are talking to the NHL, but it's got to be good for both of us," Fertitta told Bloomberg. "We just know that when there's a concert downtown how it activates downtown. We know what the Astros do for downtown. We know what even soccer does for downtown."

While Houston is likely one of the NHL's top destinations for expansion in the future, whether they decide to go to 34 or 36 teams down the road, but the Texas city could be an option for relocation.

The Arizona Coyotes are still looking for a new home, but options could be running out and if they're forced to relocate, Houston may be the most ideal location for them, although, Salt Lake City would also be interested, as Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz has expressed.

It'll be interesting to see if and when the National Hockey League opens an application process for expansion. It's widely expected that the next round of expansion could see the team fee cost upwards of $2 billion USD, which is more than triple what the Seattle Kraken ownership paid to enter in 2021.

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