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 Speculation » Potential next expansion team Houston or Austin TX
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 Potential next expansion team Houston or Austin TX [message #852663]
Tue, 23 June 2026 14:29 Go to next message
Kr55 is currently offline Kr55
Messages: 12986
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
At NHL Board of Governors, Commissioner Gary Bettman informed the Board they will be opening a process to investigate Houston or Austin TX for an expansion franchise

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Friedkin Family — a prominent Texas family — has signed a term sheet to investigate the possibility of an expansion team in Dallas or Austin, TX (typo, I think he means Huston or Austin)

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Both cities would need a new arena

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Bettman: this is going to require an investment of $3.5B (arena included)


Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Atlanta and Arizona were also discussed. But neither as far along as Houston

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000

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 Re: Potential next expansion team in Dallas or Huston [message #852664 is a reply to message #852663 ]
Tue, 23 June 2026 14:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mightyreasoner is currently online mightyreasoner
Messages: 581
Registered: October 2005
Location: Edmonton
No Cups
I know that Houston has been rumoured for years and probably is the leading candidate for many, but I've long been pumping Austin as an NHL destination.

For me, it's the best choice for NHL expansion, and a no-brainer.

The main problem with Houston, as I see it, is the competition for sport entertainment dollars (both for the public and corporate money). They have the Astros, Rockets, Texans, Dynamic FC, Comets, Dash, Cougars. It's a big population but a crowded space.

Austin has no Big-4 sports teams. They are a young, affluent, fast-growing, emerging city, with lots of corporate money and much less competition (Austin FC, Longhorns).

For me, it is an opportunity for the NHL to do what they did in Las Vegas and Nashville - get in a market early, put down roots, and build a fanbase before other major sports leagues move in. A chance to be the biggest Top-4 sports team instead of the fourth biggest in the market.

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 Potential next expansion team in Huston or Austin [message #852665 is a reply to message #852664 ]
Tue, 23 June 2026 14:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Kr55 is currently offline Kr55
Messages: 12986
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
mightyreasoner wrote on Tue, 23 June 2026 14:34

I know that Houston has been rumoured for years and probably is the leading candidate for many, but I've long been pumping Austin as an NHL destination.

For me, it's the best choice for NHL expansion, and a no-brainer.

The main problem with Houston, as I see it, is the competition for sport entertainment dollars (both for the public and corporate money). They have the Astros, Rockets, Texans, Dynamic FC, Comets, Dash, Cougars. It's a big population but a crowded space.

Austin has no Big-4 sports teams. They are a young, affluent, fast-growing, emerging city, with lots of corporate money and much less competition (Austin FC, Longhorns).

For me, it is an opportunity for the NHL to do what they did in Las Vegas and Nashville - get in a market early, put down roots, and build a fanbase before other major sports leagues move in. A chance to be the biggest Top-4 sports team instead of the fourth biggest in the market.



dang, Friedman had a typo, and so did I.

So this should be Huston or Austin as the 2 cities being debated. I carried Friedman's mistake saying Dallas, but I subbed Austin for Huston :)

Good points about Austin. If a new arena has to be built either way, makes sense to go there.

[Updated on: Tue, 23 June 2026 15:00]

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000

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 Re: Potential next expansion team in Dallas or Huston [message #852677 is a reply to message #852664 ]
Tue, 23 June 2026 20:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Suomalainen is currently offline Suomalainen
Messages: 1079
Registered: May 2002
Location: Boulder, CO
1 Cup
Having lived there for seven years, I can and cannot see Austin as a viable destination.

The main reason against is that infrastructure has not kept up with the growth of the city, and to get anywhere is painful. Where AFC put its stadium is a nice place, but essentially blocked off anyone south of the river/lake to get there easily, save a Sunday afternoon. Austin doesn't have the ring roads of DFW, SA, or Houston, so people tend to stick to North or South Austin, and congregate downtown. Location would be key as the AHL rink isn't in Austin, it's basically in Austin's equivalent of Cochrane to Calgary - if they jammed Airdrie in between the two!
There is one LRT line that goes from the convention centre through East Austin and then beelines up to where the AFC stadium is. Again, inaccessible for 50% of the population who live across the river.
Why would it be good? First mover advantage, lots of money. Kind of like San Jose in many respects. I absolutely loved Austin, working at tech startups, eating bomb-ass food every day, going to concerts and stand-up...and that's also an issue - there is always something to do. If they pulled a Vegas and contend immediately, you'll get local attention; if they pull a Seattle...people will go back to playing pickleball and drinking the latest trendy canned liquor.

Listen, it's now easier for us to go from Boulder into downtown Denver driving for an Avs/Rockies/Broncos game or a show, even on week nights, than it was for us to get anywhere in Austin.

Houston sucks on the whole, but they just pave over everything anyway to make room for new stuff, and have a semblance of infrastructure.

[Updated on: Tue, 23 June 2026 20:13]

97.

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 Re: Potential next expansion team in Dallas or Huston [message #852678 is a reply to message #852677 ]
Tue, 23 June 2026 21:25 Go to previous message
welcometotheOC is currently offline welcometotheOC
Messages: 725
Registered: April 2010
Location: Also, sadly, Cowtown
No Cups
Suomalainen wrote on Tue, 23 June 2026 20:11

Having lived there for seven years, I can and cannot see Austin as a viable destination.

The main reason against is that infrastructure has not kept up with the growth of the city, and to get anywhere is painful. Where AFC put its stadium is a nice place, but essentially blocked off anyone south of the river/lake to get there easily, save a Sunday afternoon. Austin doesn't have the ring roads of DFW, SA, or Houston, so people tend to stick to North or South Austin, and congregate downtown. Location would be key as the AHL rink isn't in Austin, it's basically in Austin's equivalent of Cochrane to Calgary - if they jammed Airdrie in between the two!
There is one LRT line that goes from the convention centre through East Austin and then beelines up to where the AFC stadium is. Again, inaccessible for 50% of the population who live across the river.
Why would it be good? First mover advantage, lots of money. Kind of like San Jose in many respects. I absolutely loved Austin, working at tech startups, eating bomb-ass food every day, going to concerts and stand-up...and that's also an issue - there is always something to do. If they pulled a Vegas and contend immediately, you'll get local attention; if they pull a Seattle...people will go back to playing pickleball and drinking the latest trendy canned liquor.

Listen, it's now easier for us to go from Boulder into downtown Denver driving for an Avs/Rockies/Broncos game or a show, even on week nights, than it was for us to get anywhere in Austin.

Houston sucks on the whole, but they just pave over everything anyway to make room for new stuff, and have a semblance of infrastructure.


Yeah, that's my recollection of Austin, though I was only there for a week at an IBM symposium. I do remember it took forever to get anywhere and I was surprised how heavy the traffic was for a place that wasn't that huge.

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