The NHL’s "first deadline for applications to be included for review in the expansion process passed" yesterday, and three different camps in the Seattle area "confirmed they did not submit bids," according to Frank Seravalli of TSN.ca. The NHL, as expected, "received formal application packages from parties located in Quebec City and Las Vegas." Multiple reports indicated that the NHL "did not receive expansion applications from other destinations, despite rumoured interest in the Greater Toronto Area, Portland, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Seattle." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that the league "will not consider any latecoming party who did not meet Monday’s hard deadline." Aside from a $2M "non-refundable application fee," the proposed $500M minimum expansion fee "may also have deterred bids." Two more steps "will be involved in the expansion application review process, culminating on Sept. 4." The NHL’s BOG, which "would vote on any expansion, is expected to meet again in late September" in N.Y. (TSN.ca, 7/20). In Las Vegas, Alan Snel reports Fidelity National Financial Chair Bill Foley yesterday "submitted his application" to the NHL for a team in the city that would "play at the new arena being built behind New York-New York on the Strip." Foley said that he also "submitted the required" $10M application fee. The official applicant is Black Knight Sports & Entertainment LLC, "with Foley serving as the managing member." The Black Knight reference "pays tribute to Foley's days as a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/21).
END OF THE ROAD? In Seattle, Geoff Baker reports the region's "final shot at an expansion bid before the league-mandated deadline" ended when RLB Holdings Founder & Managing Partner Ray Bartoszek "declined to seek an expansion team to play in his proposed Tukwila arena." The NHL "had no comment on the developments" in what "appears to be a setback of sorts for the league’s expansion vision." NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has "expressed keen interest in the Seattle area and spoke optimistically of using expansion to put two more teams out west to address the current 16-14 imbalance in conference teams." Meanwhile, Hudson Pacific Properties President, CEO & Chair Victor Coleman's decision not to bid "was said to have resulted from an inability to reach an 'NHL first' financial deal" with Seattle-based hedge fund manager Chris Hansen that "would be profitable for both, given the combined billion-dollar price tag on an arena and team." A source within the Bartoszek camp yesterday said that the "same billion-dollar cost for the team and arena also was behind its choice not to bid." But that same source indicated a few weeks ago that applying for the team "was a foregone conclusion within the group" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/21). YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski wrote the NHL is "acutely aware of Seattle’s political situation when it comes to the Coleman bid; if the city does eventually approve funding for the NHL, it’s hard to imagine the League doesn’t revisit it despite not having a bid in-hand now." As for Tukwila, that "was also something that couldn't be formalized on the NHL's timeline." Both Coleman and Bartoszek "are owners that want a team." But there is "no point in paying" $2M when neither knows if he "can even break ground on the kind of arena the NHL wants, i.e. not Key Arena for the first few seasons" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/20). In Toronto, Kevin McGran cites a source as saying that the league is "expected to have an announcement 'later in the week,'" and there "remains a possibility that one more city -- perhaps Seattle -- may backdoor its way into the process." It is also "quite possible the league will only expand by one team -- in Vegas -- to make the conferences better balanced" (TORONTO STAR, 7/21).
TOO RICH FOR THIS GO 'ROUND: GTA Centre Sports & Entertainment spokesperson Jesse Bernstein said that venture capitalist Graeme Roustan acknowledged there "was no bid from [him] in this round of expansion," but the dream of a second NHL team in Toronto "is not dead." THE HOCKEY NEWS' Ken Campbell notes the reason only two applicants submitted bids was likely because "costs have increased to the point where even placing a franchise in the most fertile market in the world doesn’t make sense." There was "speculation that the league would be demanding" more than $500M for a franchise in Toronto and that it would cost somewhere in the $425M range "to build an arena." That "puts the tab at well over" C$1B (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 7/21). In Toronto, Mike Zeisberger notes plans for the proposed GTA Centre arena "were hatched" in the spring of '12, with Roustan "spearheading the project." But after a series of meetings "dominated by political haggling," the Markham, Ont., City Council voted to "keep public money out of the equation and to use private backers only." Once the NHL last month revealed it would consider expansion, Roustan "would not identify Markham specifically as a potential site." He has "long insisted" that the original $325M price tag "was reasonable enough to construct a facility that didn’t have an NHL tenant." But with costs "now rocketing, you pretty much would need an NHL team to make it work" (TORONTO SUN, 7/21).
WORTH A SHOT: FS1's Petros Papadakis said, "Let's forget about the NBA All-Star game that was in Las Vegas that was absolutely chaotic. That was a bad scene. Let's think about UNLV, OK? They’re able to play football and basketball every year. ... They don't go over to the Strip very much." He added, "What could an NHL team do in Vegas that they don't do in cities all over Canada and the United States every single night? How much worse could it be?" ("Fox Sports Live: Countdown," FS1, 7/20).
