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NHL starts expansion review; applications due by Aug. 10

Almost 18 years to the day that the NHL last announced it would be expanding, the league took a step toward another round of such growth last week.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday announced ahead of the NHL Awards in Las Vegas that the league’s board of governors had voted earlier in the day to open an expansion review process. That process will see the league solicit bids from ownership groups interested in obtaining new franchises, with the league making formal applications available to groups as of July 6.

Applications are due back to the league by Aug. 10.

The board’s executive committee — a group that includes owners Jeremy Jacobs (Boston), Ted Leonsis (Washington), Ed Snider (Philadelphia) and Jeff Vinik (Tampa Bay) among others — will review all applicants.

There was little objection by the board to start the process, which Bettman has frequently noted does not guarantee expansion. A certain number likely influenced the decision.

Commissioner Gary Bettman referenced an expansion fee that could top $500 million.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
“We haven’t set a [expansion] fee, but based on discussions that I’ve had with ownership, I don’t think there would be desire to expand if the number didn’t start with a five,” said Bettman, referencing earlier statements that the fee could surpass $500 million.

The exact figure will be set by the board at a later date, with the league figuring that the generally known amount can in large part shape the field of applicants. Once paid, the expansion fee will be divided among the league’s existing teams.

In the last round of expansion, announced in 1997, the four new teams each paid $80 million. For the 1992 expansion, which included two teams, the expansion fee was $50 million. Bettman referenced the overall health of the league, the strength of team ownership, and the public interest in the NHL in terms of ratings and attendance as reasons for the fee that’s expected now, saying that all of those elements have “never been better.”

Neither Bettman nor NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly would say how many teams to which the league could potentially expand. The league’s conference imbalance, with 14 Western Conference teams and 16 Eastern Conference clubs, may factor in when evaluating the bids. Daly said the earliest a team would join the league would be for the 2017-18 season.

Potential Las Vegas team owner Bill Foley was not at either the board meeting or the awards ceremony, but league and team officials in town could easily see signs of the Las Vegas NHL push. The potential team’s home arena (an AEG-MGM Resorts International project) sits just beyond the New York-New York casino and is scheduled to open early next year. Foley also has already collected 13,200 season-ticket deposits for the 17,500-seat arena.

Other cities mentioned by either Bettman or Daly as having expressed interest are Seattle, Quebec City, Kansas City, Portland and Milwaukee.

Following the close of the bid-acceptance process, it is likely the next steps will be decided at the next scheduled board of governors meeting, which is set to take place in New York in September.

P.K. Subban has new deals with Samsung and Gatorade.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
WATCHING ARIZONA, LISTENING TO THE RADIO: Among other league matters, the board spent little time during its meeting discussing the Arizona Coyotes’ uncertain future in Glendale. Daly provided an update on the pending legal battle between the city and the team, but that was the only discussion. Published reports have said Coyotes co-owner Andrew Barroway is reducing his ownership share of the team less than a year after acquiring a 51 percent stake in the club. Daly said the matter has not been voted on by the board and remains a “pending transaction.” … The NHL’s satellite radio deal with SiriusXM expires before the start of next season, and discussions over a new contract have seen little progress. Among the issues at hand is that the league’s Canadian multimedia rights deal with Rogers Communications, signed in November 2013, includes a satellite radio component.

AWARDS NIGHT: Two of the most visible NHL sponsors at the NHL Awards this year were Bridgestone, which sponsored the Mark Messier Leadership Award, and Samsung, which sponsored a social media lounge set up at the event. That lounge featured Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban, who signed Canada-specific sponsorship deals with Samsung and with Gatorade earlier in the week.

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