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NHL Met With Group Interested In Houston Expansion

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According to a report from ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the NHL has a ’strong ownership candidate emerging’ for a potential expansion to Houston. Dan Friedkin, owner and chief executive officer of The Friedkin Group, has reportedly met with league executives on multiple occasions to discuss expansion in southeast Texas.

Friedkin isn’t a stranger to sports ownership. He’s the owner and president of two European football clubs, Roma of the Serie A League and Everton of the English Premier League. According to Forbes World’s Billionaire List, Friedkin ranks 432nd with a projected net worth of $6.4BB. He made most of his worth presiding over Gulf States Toyota Distributors, which was founded by his father, Thomas Friedkin, in 1969.

Although Friedkin or The Friedkin Group didn’t confirm the news, Kaplan reports that NHL commissioner deputy Bill Daly has confirmed the ongoing discussions in an email. Still, there have not been reports suggesting that the NHL is actively seeking to add another team, as most of their discussions appear to be merely preliminary.

It’s not because of a lack of interest. The most recent expansion report indicated that a group from New Orleans, LA was interested in hosting another team. Furthermore, groups from Atlanta, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Omaha have expressed interest in NHL expansion, with Atlanta likely being the most viable candidate despite losing two NHL teams already.

Given his sports ownership overseas, Friedkin likely leads the pack in any future expansion at this point. A team in Houston would have a built-in rival already in the Dallas Stars, and have access to the fourth-highest population according to the 2020 census.

Phoenix Land Sale Cancelled Until Coyotes Receive Zoning Permit

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The Arizona Coyotes have, for now, lost their last bit of hope for a new arena, with the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) canceling the Phoenix land auction that was scheduled for June 27th, shares Craig Morgan of Go PHNX (Twitter link).  The Coyotes, now reduced to a short team behind ex-owner Alex Meruelo, were hoping that this land auction would provide the ground for their new arena – one fans have been waiting for since the Coyotes were booted from Gila River Arena in 2022.

But once again, the Coyotes seem to be missing logistical steps, with the ASLD sharing that the Coyotes’ arena proposal would require a Special Use Permit that the team hasn’t yet filed for. Morgan adds that the Coyotes were under the impression that the land had already been zoned, though reports from the Spring emphasize that wasn’t the case (Twitter link). It won’t be until the Coyotes have received that zoning permit that the ASLD will move forward with the land auction. This will include going through a formal process with the City of Phoenix’s Planning and Development Department, including a vote from the city’s Board of Adjustment.

In other words, the Coyotes seem a long way out from even considering buying more land in their old namesake city. The permit application process can take upwards of two or three months, depending on Board activity, effectively sidelining the Coyotes while the succeeding Utah Hockey Club settles into the league. No representatives from the prevailing Coyotes organization have yet commented on this matter, leaving it unclear as to whether the team intends to move forward with the land purchase at all now.

More importantly, the NHL hasn’t commented on this setback. The team previously shared that Meruelo was grandfathered into NHL ownership should he compile the pieces necessary to build an arena. But he’s now moving backward in that quest, with no indication of the next steps. That uncertainty won’t be able to stick around for much longer if Meruelo really does want to bring hockey back to the desert – with plenty of other cities – like Houston, Quebec City, and Atlanta – vying for NHL expansion of their own.

Houston Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta Hoping To Add An NHL Team

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The owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, Tilman Fertitta, is reportedly in talks with the NHL about bringing a team to Texas’ biggest city, Bloomberg reports (subscription required). The NHL is the last of the major male sports leagues to not have a team in Houston, with the NBA, NFL, MLB, and MLS all existing in the city since 2005. Fertitta told Bloomberg, “We are talking to the NHL, but it’s got to be good for both of us… We just know that when there’s a concert downtown, how it activates downtown, we know what the Astros do for downtown, we know what even soccer does for downtown.”

Fertitta mentions that he’s been discussing an NHL team with the league ever since his acquisition of the Rockets in 2017, but that talks have recently ramped up – even sharing that he’s received interest from Houston suburbs willing to host a team, though Fertitta would prefer to keep the arena downtown. Fertitta’s Rockets currently play out of the Toyota Center, which recently underwent renovations to make it suitable for a hockey team.

Houston has been named as one of six cities interested in potential NHL expansion, with Salt Lake City, Utah, requesting official initiation of an NHL expansion process. The request was made by the Smith Entertainment Group, which also owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, as well as teams in both the MLS and NWSL. The NHL called Salt Lake a “promising market” and acknowledged the next steps they’re taking towards making Utah their newest host. Houston may soon enter a similar process, now expressing interest in a team a month after Salt Lake City’s request.

While both cities could make sense for an expansion team, the NHL could also eye them as potential landing spots for the Arizona Coyotes, if the team’s ownership can’t make progress on a new arena soon enough. The NHLPA recently shared that Arizona has missed two deadlines to find a new arena, adding significant pressure to the search. That pressure is no doubt added to now with two billionaire ownership groups with ties to the NBA and other professional sports leagues declaring their interest in an NHL club.

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