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NHL To Open Formal Expansion Process This Summer, With Vegas Seen As Top Candidate
The NHL will "open a formal expansion process this summer," and Commissioner Gary Bettman at the league's meetings in Las Vegas yesterday said that the "minimum cost for a team" will be $500M, according to Chris Johnston of SPORTSNET.ca. Bettman said, "We haven't set a fee but based on the discussions I've had with ownership I don't think there would be any appetite to expand if the number didn't start with a five." Johnston noted the NHL is "likely to grow by two teams" starting with the '17-18 season. The money "would be split evenly among the teams and isn't considered hockey-related revenue." Bettman "won't commit to how many teams the league will grow by and wouldn't even guarantee that they'll add any." The NHL will "accept expansion bids between July 6 and Aug. 10," and what the owners are "clearly looking to do is establish who is serious about landing a team." The league has "received interest" from parties in Las Vegas, Seattle, Quebec City, K.C. and Southern Ontario in recent years and "hopes to separate the doers from the dreamers by launching a formal process." Las Vegas landing a team is "virtually a sure-thing at this point," but it "gets quite a bit murkier when handicapping where a second expansion team might be placed" ( <a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-to-announce-opening-of-expansion-process/" target="_blank">SPORTSNET.ca, 6/24</a> ). The CP's Stephen Whyno noted the Eastern Conference "currently has 16 teams, while there are 14 in the West, and that could play a role in what cities the league might choose to expand to." Bettman said that geography and imbalance "must be dealt with but cannot be the determining factors" ( <a href="http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/13142936/nhl-formally-approves-opening-expansion-process" target="_blank">CP, 6/24</a> ). Meanwhile, in Phoenix, Sarah McLellan writes yesterday's announcement "adds credibility to the idea that the league is much more receptive to expansion" instead of a potential relocation of the Coyotes. Any fee for an incoming expansion team is "poised to trump what the league would receive for relocation" ( <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nhl/coyotes/2015/06/24/nhl-to-explore-expansion-make-rule-changes/29244485/" target="_blank">ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/25</a> ).
