It is no secret that Gary Bettman is constantly trying to grow the NHL and talks of expansion cities has been heating up over the last year.
The main cities fans have heard about are Atlanta and Salt Lake City but a new city has entered the conversation. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has stated that he would love to bring a second team to the state of Texas.
Fertitta recently sat down with Bloomberg and stated he believes bringing an NHL franchise to Houston can really give a big economic boost to the downtown core.
"We are talking to the NHL, but it's got to be good for both of us," Fertitta told Bloomberg. "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."
Houston could be a great destination for the Arizona Coyotes that are looking to relocate if need be but Bettman has proved in the past that he is willing to fight to keep the Coyotes in the Desert.
It will be interesting to see if the NHL opens an application process for expansion. It is is expected that the next round of expansion could cost these new teams upwards of 2 billion USD which is more than three times what Seattle Kraken owners paid in 2021.
