New City Emerges as Expansion Possibility Following Meeting With the NHL
Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports
While NHL expansion is still likely a few years away, at minimum, several cities have expressed interest in a franchise, one of whom recently had a meeting with the league in New York.
Just before the 2024-25 season began, a report came out from Andy Strickland of FanDuel Sports Network saying that the NHL would be beginning a formal expansion process, with Atlanta and Houston being the leading candidates for a franchise. However the league has yet to open up the formal expansion process just yet.
New city enters the mix to land NHL expansion franchise after meeting with league
Talk regarding NHL expansion has been relatively quiet over the last few months until today when ESPN's Kevin Weekes reported that the league recently met with a group looking to bring a franchise to New Orleans, Louisiana.
"In speaking to Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and other sources involved, I can confirm that there was a recent meeting in NYC with a group expressing their interest in bringing an @NHL expansion team to New Orleans." Weekes said in a post on social media.
With the National Hockey League expected to, yet again, break their record for revenue, with $6.6 billion USD projected for 2024-25, it could bring the cost of an expansion franchise to at or above $2 billion USD, which would be intriguing for everyone involved from the NHL to all 32 teams.
However with any future expansion, whether it's to 34 or 36 teams, there's going to be discussions among fans and media of the league being watered down, but the NHL doesn't view that as the case whatsoever and rightfully so, given how many talented players are either scratched on a nightly basis, playing overseas or in the AHL and are ready to make the jump.
History of hockey in New Orleans, Louisiana
There hasn't been an extensive history of hockey in New Orleans, Louisiana, however they were once the home to a team in the ECHL.
In 1997, the New Orleans Brass entered the ECHL as an expansion franchise and at one time were even affiliated with the NHL's San Jose Sharks.
After five seasons, all of which they made the playoffs in, the New Orleans Brass were forced to fold their franchise after the NBA's New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) moved to the city from Carolina.
The Hornets wanted the Brass' ownership to cover the expenses of converting their shared arena to and from basketball and hockey, but it was too costly for them and ultimately, the franchise was folded.
It's going to be interesting to see where the National Hockey League decides to put their next franchise with Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, Quebec City, among others as viable options for Gary Bettman.
Previously on CanucksDaily
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