For now, the NHL has disputed reports that the league plans to expand to Las Vegas, Seattle, Quebec City and add a second team in Toronto by 2017. Let's assume otherwise. Expansion is a way of generating free money for existing NHL owners. The NHL expanded by four teams from 1998-2000, adding Nashville, Atlanta, Minnesota and Columbus. Each paid an $80 million franchise fee, allowing the league to distribute nearly $12.5 million to each existing club. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ion-arizona-coyotes-anthony-leblanc/14739931/
If the reports are to believed (and I'm not sure), the NHL is looking to get over a billion from the 4 teams.
Before expansion, how about moving the Miami team to a proper sports town, such as QC? 7000 announced attendance tonight. Probably 3000 actually attended.
What's the lease on their arena? Their attendance is truly dismal, but unless their lease is ending in the near future, they aren't going anywhere.
nhl should not consider expansion...there are too many teams in money trouble....Islanders,Florida,Buffalo,Edmonton,Columbus all struggling..silly talk of another Toronto team is just that silly....the Leafs and Sabres wont allow it..not in their territory anyways. Quebec is not a good choice...failed once will fail again...i like Seattle, but as a relocation of one of the teams i already mentioned..opps forgot the sadsack Phoenix team.. if the nhl wants to expand.. a european division with russian, czech, slovakian, finnish and swedes and maybe german teams is the way to go...
Foley, the billionaire chairman of Fidelity National Financial, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based company that provides title insurance and mortgage services, is combining forces with former Sacramento Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof of Las Vegas in an effort to launch a NHL team in Las Vegas. They want a major-league hockey team to start as early as the 2016-17 season at the MGM-AEG arena, scheduled to open in April 2016.
SHOULD They SHOULD not consider expansion. I agree. However SHOULD is not a verb and these guys can't stop themselves when someone (anyone) is throwing new money in their direction. Seriously, if Vladimir Putin wanted to put a team in Mockba and his check cleared............the NHL would have a team in Moscow.
So there will be expansion. Vegas and Quebec City appear to be the frontrunners. Makes you wonder how the league will solve the problems with the sad sacks Florida and Arizona once Quebec City is no longer available.
NHL Expansion Bids From Las Vegas, Quebec City - ESPN http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/13295115/nhl-only-expansion-bids-came-las-vegas-quebec-city
The rumor I've heard for a while is that Seattle, Kansas City, Quebec City, and Las Vegas all will get teams in the next five years. Two will be expansion, and two will be movement of existing teams (Arizona and Florida, looking at you guys). Hartford is a rumor as well if/when KC falls through; I don't see either happening though.
NHL Settles On Las Vegas For Expansion - Associated Press http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f665...9c6/ap-source-nhl-settles-las-vegas-expansion A person with direct knowledge of the NHL's decision says the league has settled on Las Vegas as its choice for expansion, provided organizers can come up with a $500 million fee. The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because details have not been released by the league ahead of its Board of Governors meeting on June 22. Quebec City was also considered for expansion. A second person who had been briefed on the decision said Las Vegas was a "done deal" following the recommendation of the NHL's executive committee. The 2017-18 season would be the earliest the league would expand. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had proposed an expansion fee of $500 million, a significant jump from the $80 million paid by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild, when the NHL last expanded to 30 teams in 2000. The Las Vegas bid, led by Bill Foley, says it has secured more than 13,200 season-ticket deposits for a potential team. A 20,000-seat multipurpose arena near the Las Vegas Strip opened in April.
Sounds like the NHL is doubling down on their southwestern gamble, hoping another regional rival for Arizona might help the appeal of both franchises. They probably would've preferred Seattle but since their arena looks to be far off... My own interest in the league would've been better piqued by adding Quebec City or a bona fide hockey community, but that's just me. And since I already consider Bettman a tool this doesn't surprise me one bit.
Arizona is a dead man walking, no? I know we've been saying that for years, but they're literally being kicked out of their arena and it doesn't appear as if anyone wants to keep subsidizing them.
Essentially, yes. From a pure financial standpoint they should've been shipped to Winnipeg before Atlanta. I think the NHL is dealing with two issues: One is the myopic sense with which they're pushing expansion purely to chase large TV markets with seemingly little to no regard for the true support/potential for hockey, which remains a niche sport. The other is this rather blind devotion to providing east/west balance. So rather than grow organically they're intent on driving the league some mystical,magic number of 32 in hopes that the end result will be a sum greater than the whole of its parts.
Vegas needs a name: http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/1...eam-having-trademark-naming-issues-owner-says
Vegas name is narrowed down: http://news.sportslogos.net/2016/08/27/three-new-names-trademarked-by-las-vegas-nhl-team/
"Vegas Golden Knights". https://twitter.com/search?q="Golden Knights"&src=tren&data_id=tweet:801254766697390081
Isn't Las Vegas too small though? According to Google their population is just over 600k. That's about the same as Ottawa (a team that struggles with attendance) but obviously a way smaller % of the population gives two shits about hockey. Hopefully it bombs and they move to Quebec City!
Calgary to Houston??? http://calgarysun.com/sports/hockey/francis-150-million-more-reasons-for-flames-owners-to-sell
Seattle is on the front burner it seems. NHL told a Seattle based ownership group to submit an expansion and to start a season ticket drive. http://www.houstonpress.com/news/nhl-says-yes-to-seattle-puts-houston-on-hold-10029514 Same article also mentions Houston as a relocation destination since it already has an NHL compatible arena ready to go.
NHL Seattle @NHLSeattle_ 3h3 hours ago 720 seconds. That’s how long it took to hit our goal of 10,000 deposits. We’re now at 25,000 and counting. Thank you, Seattle. #NHLSeattle
Uh... WTF.. they are accepting more deposits than there are seats in the stadium? That seems a bit harsh.. Next question, how many to actual people vs. scalpers? That being said.. Daaaaaaaaamn. It took Las Vegas several weeks to get to 10k...
Proposed Seattle name and Uniforms. https://world.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/proposed-seattle-logo-and-uniform-so-good-it-has-to-be-seen