I think it's only a matter of time before Houston ends up with an NHL team, honestly. The fact that the city has an NHL-quality arena that has accommodated hockey in the past is a huge feather in the cap. Most other cities competing for a franchise would either have to start from scratch in that process or perhaps don't have an area quite as ready-made as Toyota Center. It also helps that there are a ton of potential relocation candidates. Arizona, Ottawa, and Calgary are all playing that all-too-familiar game of chicken with the NHL about the need to build a new arena. The Islanders are also nosing around for a new arena. The league will also almost certainly expand to 32, given that they now have an odd number of teams (although Seattle seems to have the inside track on being the other expansion team). And perhaps the most important fact is that Houston is a city with a ton of corporate money available to be thrown around. As far as the league is concerned, tickets sold is the measure, not butts in seats. Sure, butts in seats would be nice, but it's not necessary. And when you can all but guarantee that a certain percentage of seats will be sold in blocks to corporations right off the bat, that makes a difference. I also think it matters that Fertitta is being so forward about this and that the ducks are all in a row. Most times, at least one party is dragging their feet in the process. The city might be willing to bend over backward to get a team and to build an arena, but the league might be concerned about the market size. More often, the league is interested in a city, but city officials, tired of forking over money for sports arena renovations and re-builds for very little in return, balk at the idea of paying for a billionaire's sports palace. And sometimes, the cities have a tough time getting their ownership groups together and sorted out. The fact that Fertitta is basically coming out and saying "We want NHL hockey in Houston ASAP. I'm the buyer, we have the arena, and we have the market size to support it" has to be attractive to the league.
Can they realistically hope to put at least 10,000 people in seats for each game? I find it hard to imagine that happening on a consistent basis.
I think all it would take is a few successful seasons in order for the fans to consistently show up. Just look at the Stars fans. Having a lot of success in the late 90's and again over the past 5 seasons has helped create a noticeable hockey culture/fanbase in the city. Whether it's an expansion team or a relocating team, as long as their is some level of success (making the playoffs or consistently coming close) during the first 5 seasons I have to believe there would at the least be a solid-sized fan base. I would definitely love to have a team here.
I think it would have to be immediate success. It would have to be relocating a team that is ready to go. The Stars were a good team when they moved from MN and Dallas got the benefits of that with a Cup. Just a quick look at attendance figures over the past decade shows Dallas to be in the middle of the pack. Not bad when you consider that it's a southern city with no other attachment to a sport played on ice in a place with many sports entertainment options (jokes about all of those teams general crappiness aside). I'm not a hockey fan...but I've never had a team to root for either. I don't like hockey enough to enjoy minor league hockey. I went to maybe 1 Aeros game and 1 or 2 games for the team that was in Austin. Too many stoppages to me. I'll never understand the logic behind their offsides rule, icing, and why the play has to go to commercial when the goalie makes a save. But if we get a team in Houston, I'll make an effort.
I get that part. But what I don't get is if the defense is back in their zone, who gives a crap if the puck beats the 1st offensive player into the zone. They aren't cherry picking because there are already defenders back. I don't watch...well...any hockey. If a team comes here, I'll certainly pay more attention and figure out the intricacies.
Houston should have an NHL team By Matt Wyatt Updated 2:03 am, Saturday, November 18, 2017 NHL's need for expansion/relocation The Western Conference of the NHL needs another team. More specifically, the Western Conference’s Central Division needs another team. Since the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights to the Pacific Division, the Central Division has been shorthanded. There are now 31 teams in the NHL, leaving eight teams for each division except the seven in the Central. In order to “even things out” the Central, which is also home to the potential-rival Dallas Stars, could use Houston. If expansion is not the proper avenue for a Houston NHL team, there are viable options for relocation. The Ottawa Senators, Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers are among teams frequently associated with having attendance issues. The Calgary Flames are amid a struggle with the city over negotiations for a new arena. The New York Islanders do not seem to be destined to stay in Barclays Center in Brooklyn much longer. If the conditions are not right for expansion, there seems to be a myriad of options available for a relocated team. Every sports city must have its worthy rival, and Houston has that in its neighbor to the North. A few hours up I-45 and you will find an arch nemesis for every sport. The Rangers and Astros have a heated rivalry that has been brewing in the confines of the American League West. The Dynamo and FC Dallas duke it out every year for possession of El Capitan. Although the Mavericks have been in the basement lately, the Rockets-Mavericks matchup has Western Conference implications. Heck, even the perennial Texans-Cowboys tilt has more meaning than your usual preseason game. Four or five games a season between the Stars and Houston’s NHL franchise would bode well for the blossoming intrastate rivalry. Plus, the prospects of a Houston-Dallas bullet train would only make the accessibility for all sports in both cities even easier in the future. NHL fans in Houston have rekindled hope for hockey's return to the Bayou City, and for good reason. The Athletic reported Wednesday that Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met at league headquarters in New York to discuss the possibility of bringing a franchise to Houston. "If Houston were to express an interest in having an NHL franchise, under the right circumstances, it's something we might want to consider," Bettman said. SMITH: Fertitta's vision for hockey in Houston must dovetail with NHL's Fertitta, who also holds the lease rights to Toyota Center, expressed interest in bringing an NHL team to the city shortly after purchasing the Rockets. After news broke of his meeting with Bettman, Fertitta addressed his interest on Twitter. "As I've mentioned before, I'm very interested in the possibility of bringing the NHL to Houston, but it will have to be a deal that works for my organization, the City, fans of the NHL throughout the region and the NHL Board of Governors," Fertitta said. "We are in the very early stage of evaluating what opportunities may exist but look forward to a thorough process."
Good piece from ESPN's Greg Wyshynski on why Houston is now probably a front-runner for an NHL franchise. LINK
I just want hockey back. I miss the Aeros. And whatever team we get better ****ing be called the Aeros as well. The city retains the rights to that name, so there had better be none of these godawful contests to name a new team. It's the Aeros. The end. Hockey succeeds in L.A., a city that can't even manage to keep football teams over the years. There's no reason why the fourth biggest city in the country can't be a hockey city as well. Of course, this being an actual NHL team we're talking about, they'd better not **** it up by jacking prices out of the reach of the average person.
Options for hockey in Houston reshaped by NHL Board of Governors meetings A few outcomes from this week's NHL Board of Governors meetings have direct effects on the possibility of hockey in Houston. The door slammed shut on a couple of routes of bringing the NHL to Houston, but there are still viable options that remain in terms of future relocation. However, if you had Houston penciled in as the destination for the NHL's 32nd franchise, it's probably time to flip over to the eraser. Seattle emerged from the meetings as the only candidate for the league's next expansion franchise, and could have its inaugural season as soon as 2020-21. On Thursday, the Emerald City was given permission by the league to apply for the expansion process and was given a price tag of $650 million. Commissioner Gary Bettman was blunt when asked about Houston. "There is nothing going on right now with Houston," Bettman said, according to ESPN's Emily Kaplan. Although Houston is not in the running to host the NHL's next expansion club, there are still several teams that could possibly relocate, but that option also took a hit on Thursday. Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon signed a purchase agreement to buy the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that had been considered a relocation candidate in recent years. At first glance, this might've sounded hopeful: A Texas mogul purchasing an NHL team around the same time Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta expressed interest in bringing a team to Houston. However, Bettman quickly assured hockey fans in Raleigh that their team isn't going anywhere and that the home state of the purchaser was just a coincidence. "This is not a team that is being moved. The rumors that it might be moving somewhere else are absolutely incorrect, made up, fabrications, wrong, wrong, wrong," said Bettman, according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "The club is not going anywhere with Mr. Dundon's purchase, and for those of you who know geography, the fact that he lives in Dallas and that happens to be in the same state as Houston has nothing to do with anything." Besides, new ownership groups are not allowed to apply for relocation for seven years. So the Hurricanes moving to Houston is imminently impossible. Although local fans can cross Team No. 32 and Carolina off the list of possible Houston hockey candidates, there still remain options for relocation. The Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators remain in a gray area with the league for one reason or another. In most cases, agreements for an arena are the central cause and as long as those issues go unresolved, Houston hockey fans can wishfully think of these four teams as relocation candidates.
I've always assumed that relocation was going to be the more realistic option for Houston. Seattle and the NHL have been circling each other for a while now, so it felt like any other market, no matter how viable, was always going to be in line behind them.
This article is about Seattle likely getting a team and what comes next...just an excerpt: https://sports.yahoo.com/seattles-nhl-expansion-bid-leaves-quebec-city-asking-054222866.html Houston’s probable and eventual bid is being backed by billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who met with the commissioner last year to discuss a possible fit. Houston and Quebec appear to be the only two North American cities locked, loaded and ready to go if the NHL comes calling for expansion, and with Quebec able to slip into the Eastern Conference and Houston into the West, a 34-team NHL looks pretty good. It looks even better with a likely $700-plus-million expansion price tag attached to the bids, which would bring in $1.5-2 billion in instant revenue for the league (revenue the owners do not have to split with the players, per the CBA).
Would Houston be put in the Eastern Conference in this case since Las Vegas is already in the West? Also, I don't really follow the NHL, but is there a parallel in any American sport for an expansion team doing as well as Las Vegas is now?
Hmmm...I don't know. I think they'd want us in same division as Dallas to create rivalry. Great question. The best I can think of is the Jags and Panthers who were both in the conference championship game their 2nd year of existence. But Vegas is really, really good. Fun story for the league, I think.
No, the Aeros will be in the West. The Chicago Blackhawks will go to the East and reunite the Original Six teams. Maybe setup a "Original Six" division plus two teams. I remember I thought the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in their first year but they're not actually a expansion team, they were a relocated team from the Quebec Nordiques.
Fertitta isn’t the type of guy to have these preliminary discussions unless he is LEGIT considering buying the team. At least that’s how it seems from the outside looking in. It just makes all the sense in the world to move the Coyotes to Houston.
