[sureLoss]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tex...edium=referral

For the second time in more than a month, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has stated his interest in bringing an NHL team to Houston.

Fertitta, in an interview Wednesday on CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” was asked about his pursuit of a hockey team as well as a WNBA franchise for Toyota Center.

“We would like to work to get an NHL team in Houston — I’m working on it,” Fertitta said.

Fertitta was asked about the WNBA, which has not had a team in Houston since the Comets' run from 1997 to 2008, in relation to the surge of interest in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, whose championship game on ABC for the first time drew a bigger TV audience than the men’s final that aired on TBS.

“I would consider, definitely, I think it’s a great topic with women’s sports to talk about a WNBA team in Houston also,” Fertitta said.

In late February, Fertitta told Bloomberg that he viewed an NHL team and the 41 home games it would bring as a way to boost the downtown economy, saying “We are talking to the NHL, but it’s got to be good for both of us.” When he bought the Rockets in October 2017, Fertitta said he “would put an NHL team here tomorrow” but had said little publicly about hockey in the interim since before this year. He said he was open to bringing in an expansion franchise or relocating an existing one.