After beginning as a six-team league almost a century ago, the NHL has consistently been willing to expand its ranks to new cities and new fanbases when appropriate, with 12 teams added in 1974, three more added in 1979, and seven more added by the year 2000, when the league sat still at 30 overall.
With two more franchises christened in 2017 and 2021, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken, plus a move of the Arizona Coyotes to Utah to become the Utah Mammoth, the NHL has sat pretty at 32 teams ever since, the same number as the NFL and what the NBA will likely sit at in the next decade when they expand, but that doesn’t mean they are finished growing.
Discussing the potential to add even more teams to the league, including at least one in Texas in either Houston or Austin, with other cities like Atlanta and Arizona also options, Pierre LeBrun reported that Gary Bettman is looking at a very big expansion fee to make such a deal happen, which is very good news for the future of professional hockey.
“(Gary) Bettman said they’ve agreed to a $3.5 billion expansion fee if they go ahead with expansion to Houston or Austin with the Friedkin family,” LeBrun wrote. “All part of the terms sheet which has been agreed to. Bettman said the process will take six months to decide if it’s a go or not.”
With the 2026 Stanley Cup Final already considered a modern-day classic, NHL hype is at an all-time high heading into the 2026-27 season. With the NHL Draft rapidly approaching and a chance to ride that momentum through the summer, adding another team to a major city in Texas like Houston or Austin can only spell success for the sport moving forward.
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