NHL Expansion: Options Are Limited, But It's All About Money

It seems NHL expansion is always on fans minds. The very idea of the NHL adding teams seems like the white elephant in the room. There are no shortage of rumors and no real hard-line being drawn by the NHL about possible expansion, but it does seem like options for a new home could be slowly fading away. The rumored cities for possible NHL expansion have long been Quebec City, Seattle, Kansas City and Las Vegas. Of the four locations really only one city will be NHL ready and the others have so much red tape left to cut through that the dream of an NHL team is quickly becoming just that a dream.

For a city to even have a chance at landing an NHL team there needs to be BIG money in play. The NHL expansion fee is $500 million, and that is not going to be looked at in a favorable light. According to Forbes there are only 11 teams currently worth $500 million or more; meaning that a new team will have invested more than what almost every team is worth just for the right to join the NHL. There is a CBS

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Sports article that suggests Kansas City will not be putting in a bid, and it is the NHL expansion fee that seems to be the reason.

Lamar Hunt Jr., who owns the ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks, a minor-league hockey team that plays in Independence, called the NHL’s $500 million price tag for an expansion franchise “a ridiculously big fee,” and said that he is not aware of anyone in Kansas City who will make a push for a team.“No, it’s not on my radar,” he said. “It’s not on this team’s radar, and it’s not on my radar.”Cliff Illig, a billionaire and part of the ownership group of Sporting Kansas City, is also not involved with a bid for Kansas City, and does not know of anyone who is. [KansasCity.com]

On the other hand it does seem likely that Las Vegas will have the money and as we know in business you go where the money is. There have been rumors that a Vegas team has already picked a name and logo, but nothing is official. The rumored name would be the Knights; a tip of the hat to the United States Military Academy. As reported by Yahoo; “There was one little nugget of news regarding the Las Vegas whatever’s during the meet and greet. Foley said the team’s colors will be black, gold and gray, which matches with the color scheme of the United States Military Academy, whose sports teams are known as the Black Knights, the Vegas billionaire’s initial favorite for the team’s name.”

Currently with an NHL style arena being built and money and tickets being sold it seems like a Vegas team is a top contender to become the newest NHL franchise. Las Vegas is an odd location for an NHL team. It would fall under a non-traditional hockey market for sure, but millions of people from all over the U.S. call it home now. Giving the city an almost false fan base to start with. Any team that calls the strip home will have a gimmick feel until they prove the franchise is profitable and can contend in the league.

Of the possible NHL expansion locations Quebec City could once again call itself an NHL city if politics don’t get in the way. Quebec is working on an 18,000 seat arena and its close proximity to Montreal makes it an interesting location. But, the NHL failed there once, and going back to the well so to speak could be a hard sell for the league. But, it is a hockey market with hockey roots; so that works very much in Quebec’s favor.

You have to remember if the money come is the NHL won’t care. They just need to make sure any new team doesn’t follow in Arizona footprints. I’d say relocation is more likely to happen but with the NHL expansion deadline coming in just over a month. I don’t think that is the leagues target. I think the idea of adding two teams and a the possible of a billion dollars to the bank accounts will push the NHL into expanding first and relocation second.

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