Gary Bettman: $3.5 billion for investment fee, arena build if Houston or Austin NHL expansion happens

It looks like expansion is on the menu once again.

The NHL Board of Governors met in New York on Tuesday, and as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with the media afterwards, he announced that the NHL was looking to investigate Houston and Austin as potential expansion candidates, with the investment fee and closing arena build likely coming to a total of $3.5 billion.

The Friedkin family, through Pursuit Sports, are the ownership group behind the process for both cities, and they will then determine which of the two cities they will expand to. Bettman said the investigation will take six months to decide whether or not the expansion process will continue.

The Friedkin family also released a statement about the potential for expansion in Texas.

“Pursuit Sports, our family’s global sports ownership and operating platform, has reached an agreement with the NHL that provides us with the exclusive rights to bring an expansion NHL team to the State of Texas, with a primary focus on both Austin and Houston as potential markets.

“Each city brings unique attributes that would make a new team a huge success – 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.”

This comes just three weeks after Bettman spoke with the media ahead of the Stanley Cup Final and said the NHL was not ready for expansion. It’s not known what has changed Bettman’s stance in that time, but it appears that there is a serious consideration to expand to Houston or Austin.

Should Houston get the team, it would get their first NHL franchise ever, and first professional hockey team since the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1978. Austin also has yet to get an NHL franchise, but the Cedar Park suburb of the city is home to the Dallas Stars‘ minor-league affiliate, the Texas Stars. This new franchise would join the Stars as the two NHL teams in Texas.

Atlanta and Phoenix also remain options for expansion. It would be Atlanta’s third franchise after having the Atlanta Flames from 1972 to 1980 (now the Calgary Flames) and the Atlanta Thrashers from 1999 to 2011 (now the Winnipeg Jets). This would be Phoenix’s second franchise after losing the Coyotes franchise in 2024 due to arena complications. The team was deactivated after the 2023-24 season, with Ryan Smith paying a $1.2 billion fee to relocate all of their assets to Utah as a new franchise, now called the Utah Mammoth. The plan was to always expand back to Phoenix once they got an arena in place, but at this point in time, that has not happened.

The NHL has already expanded twice in the last nine years, adding the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and the Seattle Kraken in 2021. Vegas has found much more success since their addition, winning a Stanley Cup in 2023 along with two other Finals appearances in their inaugural season and this past season, and have failed to make the playoffs only once in their franchise’s history. Meanwhile, the Kraken have just one playoff appearance over five seasons.