NHL Sets Sights On TV Market Expansion Ahead Of New Rights Deal

SUNRISE, FLORIDA - JUNE 17: The Florida Panthers raise the Stanley Cup pursuing the triumph complete the Edmonton Oilers during Game Six of the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Final astatine Amerant Bank Arena connected June 17, 2025 successful Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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The NHL is readying to grow yet again, and could grant a 33rd franchise to either Austin aliases Houston by the extremity of the year.

The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported the news aft speaking pinch convention lawman commissioner Bill Daly. It’s a earthy adjacent measurement aft the NHL secured an agreement from Daniel Friedkin’s Pursuit Sports group successful July to salary a $2 cardinal description interest for an Austin aliases Houston franchise.

While the interest is astir 3 times what the Seattle Kraken paid ($650 million) erstwhile that franchise entered the convention for the 2021-22 season, franchise values person besides ballooned importantly successful the clip since.

Forbes’ ain NHL squad valuation list from 2025 shows complete half of the league’s franchises are worthy astatine slightest $2 billion. The Toronto Maple Leafs lead the measurement location astatine $4.4 billion, pinch the New York Rangers astatine $4 billion. In Dallas, the description team’s would-be rival the Stars is estimated to beryllium worthy $2.3 billion.

So if anything, 1 could reason that $2 cardinal for a squad group to play successful Houston aliases Austin could beryllium a bargain of a price. Especially successful Houston, wherever there’s a significant billionaire people ready to propulsion superior astatine a lucky franchise, and the No. 6 U.S. media marketplace to tie further interest.

That media marketplace sits astatine the halfway of this description thought for the NHL, which has been much fierce successful position of adding teams this period than its peers successful the NBA, NFL and MLB.

Hockey has added 4 franchises (Columbus, Minnesota, Las Vegas and Seattle) to its ranks since 2000, on pinch nine relocations to Winnipeg and Salt Lake City. During the aforesaid stretch, the NFL and NBA added 1 squad apiece, while MLB has stood pat.

A 33-team NHL would beryllium North America’s largest awesome sports league. And that’s earlier the eventual description to 34. Daly’s comments to The Athletic besides make it clear those conversations are ongoing – again, pinch immoderate of the largest disposable media markets.

Increasingly Murky Media Landscape For Hockey

Hockey purists would apt for illustration that if the NHL is going to return to an abandoned market, Quebec City would beryllium first connected the list.

Yet, fixed the success of the league’s confederate description successful caller decades, it’s difficult to reason against continuing the strategy. Especially erstwhile location are still awesome U.S. TV markets without teams and the NHL is astir to commencement negotiations for a caller authorities woody pursuing the 2027-28 season.

The existent 32-team rank makes astir $625 cardinal per twelvemonth from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery successful the U.S. Estimates connected the adjacent media woody vary, but fixed accepted media cuts, accrued TV authorities crossed the committee and larger manufacture consolidation, it’s still chartless conscionable how overmuch this adjacent NHL contract could nett from broadcast and cablegram partners.

Pulling successful streaming-exclusive partners could mean much media revenues, but besides reduced attraction (as MLS and Formula 1 are contending pinch connected Apple TV to varying extents).

Since the powers-that-be successful the NHL surely cognize this and only person truthful overmuch power complete resources disposable to broadcast lucky games, they’re pulling the only lever they person for immediate, guaranteed gross growth: Expansion.

NHL Revisiting Major U.S. Cities

Specifically, description successful apical media markets that presently deficiency a team.

Fortunately aliases unluckily for the NHL, that intends not treading caller crushed successful untapped markets, but revisiting cities wherever it didn’t activity retired antecedently – sometimes aggregate times.

Daly noted Phoenix and Atlanta, respectively No. 7 and No. 12 among U.S. TV markets, arsenic the 2 cities successful ongoing discussions for squad No. 34.

The Phoenix area was location to the Coyotes from 1996 to 2024 aft the squad relocated from Winnipeg. But the squad agelong struggled pinch financial and arena issues, and moreover played its last 2 seasons astatine Arizona State’s Mullett Arena (seating capacity of 4,600). The team’s assets were yet moved to Utah to comprise the “expansion” Mammoth. But the Coyotes’ history and marks stay successful Arizona.

Atlanta, meanwhile, has been location to 2 abstracted franchises successful the past.

The Atlanta Flames played successful Downtown Atlanta from 1972 to 1980, earlier they relocated to Calgary. The metropolis sewage a 2nd NHL effort successful 1999 pinch the description Atlanta Thrashers, who besides played downtown (splitting Philips Arena pinch the NBA’s Hawks). However, that squad would besides find itself successful Canada, erstwhile the Thrashers were purchased and moved to Winnipeg – to go the caller Jets – successful 2011.

Past failures successful these markets don’t needfully bespeak early issues. Hockey infrastructure successful some metropolitan areas could beryllium importantly improved, and arena locations (for Atlanta, adjacent Alpharetta has approved an arena for a imaginable NHL team) could make a awesome quality arsenic well.

But by the aforesaid token, immoderate of the factors that made those cities difficult business propositions antecedently could besides beryllium the lawsuit erstwhile again. Regardless of really ample those media markets whitethorn be.

The NHL, arsenic a whole, could perchance spot the use of adding awesome markets and description fees successful the $2 cardinal scope arsenic outweighing the effect connected competitiveness and wide roster talent. However, if adding teams that underperform makes the on-ice merchandise worse arsenic a result, it could perchance wounded the league’s TV negotiations adjacent clip around.

Of course, there’s besides the imaginable that it doesn’t.

In assemblage sports, the Big Ten’s additions of market-based schools extracurricular of its footprint (particularly Rutgers, Maryland and UCLA) hasn’t hampered the conference’s expertise to cod soaring media revenues aliases triumph connected the field. Still, that’s a postulation of conscionable 18 colleges, pinch an automatic system of adding caller fans each fall, via student enrollment.

The NHL doesn’t person that, but besides has much games to leverage for revenue. And arsenic it explores description pinch TV markets arsenic the superior lens, it besides has to dream the games it’s acquiring present some for at-home and in-arena audiences. Because if not, it’s improbable to get different effort astatine adding teams successful awesome (but non-traditional for hockey) U.S. media hubs.