AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File
Fans watch as players warm up prior to the Arizona Coyotes’ home-opening NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets at the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz., Oct. 28, 2022.
NEW YORK — The NHL is exploring potential expansion to Texas with Houston and Austin among the possibilities, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The league’s Board of Governors had their annual post-Stanley Cup Final and pre-draft meeting on Tuesday in New York. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the expansion consideration had not been announced. ESPN and Sportsnet were first to report the move.
While there is no guarantee the NHL adds a 33rd team, it is a first step toward becoming the largest professional sports league in North America, surpassing the NFL. Commissioner Gary Bettman in recent years has been careful to say officials were listening to expressions of interest from prospective owners in places like Houston and Atlanta but not yet engaged in a formal path toward expansion.
Last year, there were reported discussions between the NHL and Houston billionaire Dan Friedkin about bringing a professional team to Houston. In early 2024, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta was reportedly in talks with the NHL.
Houston has never been home to an NHL franchise but previously had two pro hockey teams that both were called the Aeros. The first team competed in the former World Hockey Association from 1972-78 and was led by hockey legend Gordie Howe, winning two league championships. The second rendition of the Aeros was a minor league team that played in the International Hockey League and American Hockey League from 1994-2013.
The Houston area is set to get a junior hockey team as the Houston Bulls, a rebranded franchise in the North American Hockey League, are moving from Iowa to the Houston suburb of Richmond f0r the 2026-27 season.
The league last expanded to 32 teams with the Seattle Kraken beginning play in 2021 after the Vegas Golden Knights started in the 2017-18 season. Before that, there had been 30 teams since 2000, when Columbus and Minnesota entered.
The recent success stories, combined with booming franchise values across sports, spurred talk of expansion in hockey circles, especially because expansion fees could exceed $1 billion. Seattle paid $650 million and Las Vegas $500 million.
From Florida to Texas to California and places in between, the NHL has enjoyed strong popularity across the Sun Belt and non-traditional hockey markets over the past four decades. Teams were added in South Florida and Tampa in Florida, San Jose and Anaheim in California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Las Vegas while relocations put teams in Dallas and Raleigh, North Carolina, Denver and elsewhere.
Teams in those places have won the Stanley Cup the past seven years in a row and 13 times dating to Colorado’s championship run in 1995-96.