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" (SPORTSNET.ca, 6/24). 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" (CP, 6/24). 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" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/25).
STRIP TEASE: In Las Vegas, Alan Snel notes the league's BOG yesterday "heard a 10-minute report" from Bettman on prospective NHL Las Vegas Owner William Foley's season-ticket deposit drive, but "no formal decision on Las Vegas was made by the team owners." Foley has "collected more than 13,000 season ticket commitments toward his goal of starting an NHL team." Bettman said, “Las Vegas has stepped up in a significant way.” He added that the season-ticket deposits "were based on groups of eight or less tickets." Foley said that he was "thrilled that he will get a chance to submit an expansion team application." A Red Wings exec said after the BOG meeting that NHL teams were "advised by the league to not comment on the Las Vegas team bid" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 6/25). The CP's Whyno noted Las Vegas is "considered the favourite to get a franchise, though Bettman insisted there's no 'list' that Las Vegas would theoretically be at the top of." The deposits are "technically refundable if a team is not in place" for '16-17, but Daly "didn't think Foley's group was concerned by that" (CP, 6/24). In Las Vegas, Steve Carp notes with the NHL giving Foley the "green light to proceed, he will shift his efforts into high gear." However, there are "still a few hurdles to clear before the city can celebrate what would be a historic moment that would come with the awarding of a major league sports franchise" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 6/25).
PLACE YOUR BETS: ESPN.com's Scott Burnside wrote yesterday "was a seminal moment in the history of the NHL and, perhaps, professional sport in North America," as Bettman "set in motion the machinery that will almost certainly see the NHL become the first of the four major sports leagues to set up shop in Las Vegas." It would be "absolutely shocking" if Vegas did not land an expansion team, and, "for better or worse, both the league and the city in the desert will never be the same." Unlike Seattle or Toronto, Las Vegas "has the two key elements needed for a successful expansion team: a well-heeled ownership group and a building in which to play." Even Bettman "admitted that the response to Foley's ticket drive has been impressive" (ESPN.com, 6/24). In Toronto, Bruce Arthur writes Las Vegas is the "automatic bet right now" after a process that has been "very, very deliberate." The NHL let Foley "sell 13,200 season ticket commitments, exceeding expectations, and now the NHL will travel where the NBA wasn’t willing to go" (TORONTO STAR, 6/25). The GLOBE & MAIL's Eric Duhatschek writes Las Vegas is a "market that helps expand the NHL’s footprint, its state-of-the-art arena can spin off bags of money and it has a stable, wealthy ownership group" (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/25). But in Las Vegas, Ray Brewer writes he is "still not sold hockey will work in our desert." Brewer: "I'm desperate to tell you it's a good idea and hockey will thrive here. ... I’m afraid we’ll be the next Phoenix, where hockey has failed miserably and the franchise is close to leaving. If it fails here, it would be a black eye on our city." There is "no guarantee it will pop here" despite the ticket pledge. He writes, "It’s just that we’re not a hockey town. Plain and simple" (LASVEGASSUN.com, 6/25).
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Roustan previously spearheaded a squashed plan
to build an arena in the Toronto suburb of Markham |
TORONTO DOUBLING UP? THE HOCKEY NEWS' Ken Campbell noted venture capitalist Graeme Roustan, the man who "tried to build an NHL-caliber arena in suburban Toronto," has declared he will "throw his hat in the ring to acquire a second team for Canada’s largest city." Roustan is the "largest single shareholder in the company that owns" Bauer and Easton sports equipment. He said that he "intends on filing an application for expansion for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)." With Las Vegas a "virtual shoo-in for either" an expansion team or the relocated Coyotes, it "looks as though Roustan will be fighting it out with representatives from Quebec City and Seattle for any possible expansion franchises." He previously spearheaded the "construction of the GTA Centre, a 20,000 seat venue, in the Toronto suburb of Markham, but the deal collapsed when the city council there quashed the deal." Roustan said that he will "look at all possibilities in the GTA for an arena, including revisiting the possibility of going to Markham" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 6/24). In Toronto, Mike Zeisberger notes Roustan's critics have "questioned his motivation for wanting to build an arena with no NHL tenant and have criticized some of his past business dealings." But yesterday's news "certainly put a new spin on the situation." Roustan: "Being involved in any franchise in the NHL is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that drowns out any noise that comes from the cheap seats” (TORONTO SUN, 6/25). Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek said a second team in Toronto could be Bettman’s final move to the owners, “handing them a billion-dollar check, ‘Here, Toronto's got another team and I’m out of here. My legacy position is written.’" While Marek believes Toronto "is on the radar somewhere down the road," the league has to "address imbalance between the conferences." Marek: Las Vegas addresses that, Seattle addresses that” (“Olbermann,” ESPN2, 6/24).
RETURN TRIP: The CP's Whyno reported media group Quebecor "plans to apply for an NHL expansion franchise with the intent of bringing back the Nordiques to Quebec City." The company "confirmed its interest in a news release sent out 90 minutes" after Bettman announced the league's expansion strategy. Quebecor President & CEO Pierre Dion said his company has "all the ingredients" for expansion. Whyno noted Quebec City's 18,259-seat Videotron Arena "is almost ready" (CP, 6/24). Meanwhile, in Seattle, Geoff Baker notes the expansion announcement "puts pressure on competing arena groups in Seattle, Tukwila and possibly Bellevue to hasten securing the financing for their projects." Sources said that RLB Holdings Founder & Managing Partner Ray Bartoszek, who is spearheading the Tukwila project, "sent his hockey representative, Ben Bouma, to Las Vegas" for the meetings. Bouma "took a tour of the planned Las Vegas arena site with architects from Populous ... and is believed to have met with NHL officials." The league would "take any Seattle-area applications knowing that no group would have its arena plans approved until next year." But the NHL also "would clearly expect any formal application to already have financial arrangements worked out" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/25).
TOO EARLY TO TELL: In K.C., James Dornbrook wrote the city "has a lot going for it on the hockey front, but it's doubtful we'll see a local pitch for an expansion team." The best bet K.C. "has going for major league hockey right now is probably" Loretto Sports Ventures President Lamar Hunt Jr., who "recently acquired" the ECHL Missouri Mavericks and helped land an affiliation for the team with the Islanders. But Hunt is "still new to owning a professional hockey team." He also has already said publicly that the K.C. area "isn't quite ready for the NHL right now." NHL 21 President Paul McGannon has been "trying to attract an NHL team ... for years." He is "excited about an NHL expansion announcement, but agrees that there is still work to do" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/24).
