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NHL looking at adding expansion teams in two American cities

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Jun 23 2026, 7:18 pm
NHL looking at adding expansion teams in two American cities
Marc DesRosiers/Imagn Images

Is the NHL getting ready to expand again?

It certainly sounds like it, with multiple reports surfacing that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is looking at two prospective cities. Sorry, Quebec City, because both cities are in the United States.

More precisely, they’re each located in Texas.

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Bettman has opened the process of investigating Houston or Austin for expansion franchises at the NHL Board of Governors meeting in New York.

Houston has been mentioned as a possible expansion location for a while now. With a metro population of 7.8 million people, it’s the fifth-largest city in the United States. The only major pro franchise they’re missing is the NHL, as Houston has successfully supported teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and MLS.

Austin is a relative newcomer to the NHL discourse. It has a much smaller metro area population (2.6 million) than Houston, but it doesn’t have a team in the NFL, NBA, or MLB to compete with. Austin does have an MLS franchise, which began play in 2021.

Both Houston and Austin would obviously present natural geographic rivals for the Dallas Stars, which is currently the only NHL team based in Texas.

In a statement shared with Daily Hive, the family of Dan Friedkin confirmed that it has “exclusive rights” to bring an expansion team to Texas.

“Pursuit Sports, our family’s global sports ownership and operating platform, has reached an agreement with the NHL that provides us with the exclusive rights to bring an expansion NHL team to the State of Texas, with a primary focus on both Austin and Houston as potential markets,” the statement reads.

“Each city brings unique attributes that would make a new team a huge success – both have the infrastructure, passionate fan bases, and economic strength needed to support a championship-caliber franchise for years to come.”

The Friedkin Group already owns a pair of European pro soccer franchises, Serie A club AS Roma and Everton in the Premier League.

“We have wanted for some time to bring an NHL team to Texas, and we are excited that the process has now begun. Selecting a new market for an NHL franchise is a special and important responsibility, and we are grateful to the league for their faith in us and their support. Working with Commissioner Bettman and the NHL, we will undertake a principled, disciplined, and methodical process to ensure we find the right long-term home for this new franchise.”

The NHL currently has 32 franchises, after adding the Seattle Kraken in 2021 and the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017. The Arizona Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City in 2024, where they are now known as the Utah Mammoth.

Many people north of the border are hoping the NHL will put a team back in Quebec City one day. The Quebec Nordiques left for Denver in 1995.

Expanding to Canada is something that hasn’t happened since Gary Bettman became NHL Commissioner in 1993. The Ottawa Senators, which began play in 1992, are the last expansion franchise awarded to a city in Canada. The Winnipeg Jets did return in 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers relocated.

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