Houston mayor supports NHL expansion plans: ‘We’ll be there’

Houston's mayor is excited about his city possibly landing an NHL expansion team.

John Whitmire told The Sporting News on Monday that his office is ready to do whatever it takes to land the NHL's 33rd franchise.

"We're ready. In fact, we're talking to multiple parties that are interested ... So when we get a proposal, if the city can do something to a system, we'll be there," Whitmire said. "We'll definitely be a better location than Austin."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced in June that the league and The Friedkin Group would undertake a six-month evaluation process to determine if Houston or Austin would be a more suitable home to a new expansion team.

"That’s part of the process is to determine what would be best, both for the league and for Dan Friedkin and family,” Bettman said at the time. "Both cities will require a new arena. It may be more feasible in one place than the other. And as we dig a little deeper and do the due diligence, we’ll figure out which makes the most sense."

Bettman added that the expansion fee and new arena will cost The Friedkin Group $3.5 billion.

Earlier this month, deputy commissioner Bill Daly revealed that the goal is for the new franchise to begin play in the 2029-30 season.

“We have agreed on the framework of a transaction, and we’re all working to get toward that,” Daly said at the NHL media tour in Munich. “We hope to have definitive agreements in place that would commit the franchise as early as December this year. And we expect that they’ll be able to begin play as early as the 2029-30 season, closing the transaction early 2029.”

He added, “We’re just farther along in our discussions with the interest that developed in Texas. As we began those discussions, it was focused on Houston. As we progressed, the alternative to Austin was raised, and certainly I think our ownership group is willing to consider the benefits of expansion at Austin, although I still think the priority is probably Houston.”

The NHL has expanded twice in the last decade, first to Las Vegas in 2017 and then to Seattle in 2021. A new expansion franchise would make the NHL the first major North American pro sports league to have 33 teams.

Updates on the possible Texas expansion team are expected when the NHL board of governors meet in September and December. Expect Houston's mayor to keep stumping for his city until a decision is made.

"I think (the NHL) would never regret it if they gave a franchise to Houston. They'd never regret it," Whitmire said. "Austin is a great city, but it's not Houston ... If you talk to the sports franchises in town, I think they'd tell you we're great partners."