Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio on Tuesday with Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick and was asked when we could actually see a new expansion team play, where it would be located, and whether the NHL will get to 36 teams at some point.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: Expansion to Houston and Atlanta is Coming
Scott Laughlin: “It seems like it’s pretty much-I don’t want to say done, but I think we’d be surprised at this point if the 33rd NHL franchise is not somewhere in Houston or Austin, Texas, right? So tell us what you know about that.
Atlanta. Last week, social media kind of took off, saying Atlanta was this close to getting the team as well. Bill Daly said, “Hold on a second, it’s all premature at this point when it comes to Atlanta, but they’re on the radar as well. So it’s going to be 33 teams pretty soon, maybe 34. Some have even said maybe as much as 36, much to the chagrin of our good friend Brian Burke as to where they might get to here. But what are you hearing about what the NHL is going to look like as early as a few months from now?
Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, well, keep in mind that the board of governors meetings are in two weeks, I think, out in New York. There will be an update provided on the status of the potential expansion markets, the interest that’s there from outside parties and whatnot outside of Houston. Because Houston/Austin, because there is, as you said, there will be a 33rd team. It’s going to be one of them.
They’ve already agreed to the finances. $3.5 billion, $1.5 billion of that will go towards the construction of a new arena. So effectively, a $2 billion expansion fee, make it split amongst the owners. So there’s definitely going to be an update on where things are at.
NHL Expansion Eyes Texas With Houston, Austin in Play
The Atlanta update, that kind of got a little bit blown out of proportion, is more so with how their entertainment district, along with the arena, is progressing, and they’re going to be breaking ground on the whole thing later on this year. But there is a group in place that wants to bring obviously, an NHL team there.
They’ve had their communications with the league, but it is, as Bill Daly has mentioned to others, a little bit premature at this stage. But it does look like they would be next in line beyond what’s happening in Texas. So, the Mayor of Houston came out last week and talked about them being ready for an NHL club and ready to help however they can to make that happen. They complimented their sister city in Austin, but they feel they’re the right location for it.
So everybody seems locally to be aligning themselves and getting their ducks in a row. We know they’re still internet; I mean, the league would love to go back to Arizona with the right situation, the right arena, right ownership group in place. There’s been interest from other parties in New Orleans and San Diego and Iowa and so on and so on. So we’ll see kind of where that evolves to afterwards, and maybe Austin down the road gets there because I do believe we’ll get to 36.
NHL Rumors: NHL Could Stagger Expansion To Get To 36 Teams
It’s probably within the next 10 years we’ll get to 36, but next in line is certainly one more team in Texas. Figure out the Atlanta situation. We’re probably looking at the 29-30 or 30-31 season, when things open up on Team 33.”
NHLRumors.com Note: Credit to all those who have been on the story recently. Also, Pagnotta has been asked about expansion for a couple of years now and has reported the same: the NHL could see 36 teams. Over the past couple of years, the word has been Houston, then Atlanta, then a return to Arizona. Again, everything has to be in order for the NHL to expand. The belief is that at the board of governors meeting, they will announce something about another expansion team in Texas.
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