According to what Frank Seravalli reports on the website Daily Faceoffthe city of Austin, Texas, would have expressed its interest in order to obtain a NHL dealership.
Seravalli explains that the NHL has informed interested cities that the costs to obtain a concession in a possible expansion were now set at $ two billion.
The NHL would have told the Governors’ Office that four cities were in the race: Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis and New Orleans.
The fifth would be Austin, one of the cities knowing the strongest population growth in the United States still not being represented in the four major North American leagues (NHL, MLB, NFL and NBA).
As many will notice, Quebec is not mentioned as a potential destination for a NHL team in the Seravalli article.
The eyes are mainly turned towards the candidacy of Atlanta, which is trying to obtain a NHL team for the third time. The “Gathering At South Forsyth” project was even approved by the county in order to build an arena that can accommodate the NHL for $ three billion.
If an expansion takes place, it would probably pass the league from 32 to 34 teams. And if Atlanta is retained, the balance between the number of teams in the West and the East would like the second expansion team to be geographically located to the west. The addition of Austin would be logical, although Arizona could also try to make a return if their arena problem is solved.
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