Speculation about NHL expansion is increasing, and two markets in particular – Houston and Atlanta – look to be the favorites to land the league’s next two franchises. Adam Proteau discusses why expansion could potentially benefit fans, players, and the sport as a whole
Video Transcript
Ryan, do you think we’ll see another expansion franchise, even at that cost, join the NHL by, let’s say, 2030?
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And if so, where are you looking?
Yes, I do, because for the other 32 NHL owners, they’ll say, “A billion dollars?
well, it’d be two billion if it was two teams, right?
It feels like Houston and Atlanta would be the most obvious, and then maybe Phoenix as well
Obviously it’d be contingent on an appropriate arena in an appropriate part of the greater Phoenix area, which was always bedeviling the Coyotes back in the day
But yeah, those would be the three cities that I would look at as the most likely
And then it just becomes a matter of, you know, which bids and, and how fast
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But by 2030, I feel like, yeah, we’ll have two more teams
Yeah.
How about you, Drew?
You And Ryan says Houston, Atlanta, or going back to Arizona
Didn’t hear any Toronto or Canadian, cities mentioned there, but what, what do you think?
I agree with Ryan
I definitely think we’re gonna see two more
I’m gonna go off the radar a little bit here- Ooh ’cause no one’s talking about this much
I think we’re gonna see back to Scottsdale, I agree, but then I also think we’re gonna see Austin, Texas
Ooh.
Oh.
That’d be fun
Yeah.
I think we’re gonna see Austin for a couple reasons
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One, it’s just blowing up
I know Houston’s obviously a bigger city by population, but if you look at Austin, like other than the football stuff there that kinda ends, call it, in December, there’s a lot of people who live there full time now who love sports, who don’t have a lot going on in the second half of the year
So I’m gonna say Austin
