Bettman: NHL Still in Wait and See Mode on Expansion
No vote in New York, but the Friedkin family's look at Houston and Austin continues, and Ted Leonsis is the board's new chairman.
The NHL board of governors did not vote on expansion when it met in New York on Tuesday, and commissioner Gary Bettman said the 32-team league remains in a "wait-and-see attitude" about growing to 34.
"We continue to evaluate and receive expressions of interest, which I guess is a really good thing," Bettman said. The league, he stressed, is fielding unsolicited pitches rather than running a formal expansion round, so there is no deadline attached to any of it.
The furthest along is the Friedkin family's six-month evaluation of Houston and Austin as sites for a second team in Texas, a process that began in June. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league got a full briefing from the group last week plus an update before Tuesday's meeting, and that the Friedkins have identified potential arena sites in both cities.
Bettman said he expects to know by the end of the year which city the governors would prefer. Daly was careful not to promise a vote when the board reconvenes in December.
"I don't think we're putting time limits on things," Daly said. "I expect we will certainly know a lot more than we do now, come December, but I don't (think) there's any magic date by which something has to get done or not get done."
Three ownership groups around Atlanta have reached out, Bettman said, and a couple of groups from the Phoenix area are interested, though he added it "doesn't make sense to talk about it" without firm arena plans. Bettman put the cost of bringing a team to Texas at roughly $3.5 billion when the Friedkin process started, covering both an expansion fee and a new building.
He also expects the room is split. "I think there are probably some owners who think expansion is the greatest thing ever, and I think there are some people who say, 'Why do we need to expand?'" Bettman said. Any deal needs three quarters of the governors on board.
The board did make one thing official: Capitals owner and Monumental Sports & Entertainment chairman Ted Leonsis, 69, was unanimously approved as its new chairman, succeeding Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, 86, who stepped down after 19 years. Flames governor Murray Edwards becomes vice-chair.
On a succession plan for Bettman, commissioner since 1993, Leonsis said the board did not take it up Tuesday. "I think when the time's right that Murray and I and the executive committee and everyone will be working on what's the right answer," he said.
