NEW YORK -- The NHL is ready to explore putting a second team in Texas.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Tuesday following a meeting of the Board of Governors that the League will open a six-month process to evaluate the possibility of expanding to either Houston or Austin, Texas.
Commissioner Bettman identified the Friedkin family, led by Dan Friedkin, the CEO of The Friedkin Group, as the prospective owner of the Texas expansion franchise, which would be the NHL's 33rd.
He said the League has entered into an agreement with the Friedkin family to explore the feasibility, adding it would be approximately a $3.5 billion investment made by the family, which includes the expansion fee that goes to the NHL and the cost of building a new arena.
Commissioner Bettman said the exploration phase will determine which market, Houston or Austin, is best suited for an NHL team.
Both markets require a new arena, he said.
"We have been in discussions for the better part of two years with the Friedkin family, principally for the last two years about Houston as an expansion opportunity," Commissioner Bettman said. "But as we continued to focus with them, particularly on the need for a new arena in Houston, the discussions morphed into also a discussion about Austin, which would also need a new building. But we are going to work together under the terms, a term sheet that we were able to agree upon, in terms of a framework to consider what makes the most sense moving forward."
Commissioner Bettman said the League did not present it to the Board of Governors for a vote Tuesday, but there was an extensive discussion about it with the BOG Executive Committee, which endorsed the framework of the terms the NHL has entered into with the Friedkin family.
"Ultimately, if we're able to jointly reach a conclusion, at that time it would be subject to a vote of the Board of Governors," Commissioner Bettman said. "That's something that will unfold over the next six months, give or take."
The Friedkin family also owns Italian soccer club AS Roma and Everton in the English Premier League.
Through Pursuit Sports, the Friedkins’ "global sports ownership and operating platform," the family released a statement saying the agreement with the NHL provides it with exclusive rights to bring an expansion team to Texas with the focus on Austin and Houston.
"Each city brings unique attributes that would make a new team a huge success," the statement read. "Both have the infrastructure, passionate fan bases, and economic strength needed to support a championship-caliber franchise for years to come.
"We have wanted for some time to bring an NHL team to Texas, and we are excited that the process has now begun. Selecting a new market for an NHL franchise is a special and important responsibility, and we are grateful to the League for their faith in us and their support. Working with Commissioner Bettman and the NHL, we will undertake a principled, disciplined, and methodical process to ensure we find the right long-term home for this new franchise."
Commissioner Bettman said the Dallas Stars do not own territorial rights in Texas that would prevent the League from adding a team in Houston or Austin.
"My guess is they'll think it's good for hockey in Texas," he said.
Commissioner Bettman said the BOG also had discussions about the possibility of Atlanta and Arizona as expansion markets, but the Friedkin family's pursuit of a team in Texas is the furthest along, he said.
"We're in lots of discussions, but they've got to progress to a certain level before you create a framework to actually see if it's something that's going to work," Commissioner Bettman said. "That doesn't rule in or rule out Atlanta or Arizona, it simply means they're on a slightly different track. Tomorrow we could all wake up and they say, 'You know what, that looks so good we want to do the same thing.' "
Commissioner Bettman said he doesn't know yet if there will be pushback on adding a 33rd team from the Board of Governors because there was no formal vote or informal poll taken.
He also said the NHL is not concerned about having an odd number of teams, noting that was the case when the Vegas Golden Knights came into the League as the 31st franchise in 2017-18.
"Symmetry, I don't think, should necessarily govern expansion," he said. "You expand if you think it makes sense and enhances what the League has."
The NHL has been a 32-team league since 2021-22, when the Seattle Kraken made their debut. Seattle was unanimously approved as the League's 32nd franchise at the BOG meeting on Dec. 4, 2018, with an expansion fee set at $650 million.
The expansion fee for the Golden Knights nine years ago was $500 million.
The League also established a franchise in Utah two years ago, when the Smith Entertainment Group, led by co-owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, purchased the hockey operations and franchise rights of the Arizona Coyotes for $1.2 billion and brought both to Salt Lake City.
"The fact is, as we've talked about all along, expansion depends on ownership, market, arena and what does it do to make the League stronger," Commissioner Bettman said. "In that case, if you're sitting in the room and the first three are checked, those first three boxes, you'll then say to yourself what does it do to make the League stronger. Houston, South Texas, is a major market nationally."
