Houston Rockets owner eyeing NHL franchise?

[sureLoss]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...n-rockets.html

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, the new owner of the Houston Rockets, didn’t rule out a National Hockey League franchise for Houston during his first press conference Oct. 10 at the Toyota Center after acquiring the team for $2.2 billion.

It would be the second NHL franchise in Texas behind the Dallas Stars.

“Do I want to see Toyota Center filled up 300 nights a year? Definitely.” Fertitta said. "I would put an NHL team here tomorrow (but it has to make sense)."

NHL executive Larry Tanenbaum is “very excited” to meet with Fertitta, Rockets CEO Tad Brown said at the press conference. Houston and the NHL have discussed deals in the past to bring a team to the Bayou City but nothing has worked out, Brown said.

“Everything’s open,” Brown said. “Tilman is aggressive.”

[lazypucker]

Houston Flames - inaugural season 2022?

[Slava]

Houston Oilers has a nice ring to it!

[transplant99]

Ive always wondered why we havent heard more about a team in Houston. IIRC its the 5th largest TV market in the US, and well over 7 million people.

With the success of the Stars and the grassroots initiatives they are seeing blossom into tanglible returns, one would think Houston as a no-brainer.

[Captaincanada80]

Houston always made sense from a pure size and location. 5th or 6th largest metro in all the USA located in the west. Wouldn't shock me to see a relocation or expansion.

[Hockey Fan #751]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Ive always wondered why we havent heard more about a team in Houston. IIRC its the 5th largest TV market in the US, and well over 7 million people.

With the success of the Stars and the grassroots initiatives they are seeing blossom into tanglible returns, one would think Houston as a no-brainer.

I think after Les Alexander was denied the Oilers in the late 90s he became very bitter towards the NHL and with the Rockets holding full control over Toyota Center, hockey became a non-starter.

[Resolute 14]

I can't see the NHL going beyond 32 teams any time soon, so with three cities now actively pursuing franchises, the fans of some of the more commonly discussed teams might get a little nervous as relocation very much is in play. Particularly Phoenix if they can't get their arena situation figured out.

[ricosuave]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Houston Flames - inaugural season 2022?

You shut your pucking mouth!

[Matty81]

I think the NHL would be idiotic in the long run to send another team into the sun belt but they obviously feel differently based on Vegas. After their initial excitement those cities only seem to succeed if they have winning teams for long sustained periods. Already you've got Florida, Carolina and Phoenix limping along... but hey Bettman can prove his point that Calgary will regret not giving him and his rich friends their way.

Houston seems like it would just be another Atlanta unless they get shipped a ready made contender... which may be what the NHL and old Murray Edwards plan to do with the flames

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Matty81

I think the NHL would be idiotic in the long run to send another team into the sun belt but they obviously feel differently based on Vegas. After their initial excitement those cities only seem to succeed if they have winning teams for long sustained periods. Already you've got Florida, Carolina and Phoenix limping along... but hey Bettman can prove his point that Calgary will regret not giving him and his rich friends their way.

Houston seems like it would just be another Atlanta unless they get shipped a ready made contender... which may be what the NHL and old Murray Edwards plan to do with the flames

Well to be fair if Houston does get a team it will probably be a relocation from one of those struggling sunbelt teams.

[icecube]

“Do I want to see Toyota Center filled up 300 nights a year? Definitely.” Fertitta said. "I would put an NHL team here tomorrow (but it has to make sense)."

If it were to happen NOW, would it make sense? I wonder?

[robaur]

If they move Arizona to Houston, it automatically turns a loser into a winner from the hockey market perspective.

Say anything about Houston, they support their sports team - the market is large enough.

[Lubicon]

I've generally been against relocation and in favor of expansion but in the case of Houston I might be convinced otherwise. Keeping a team in the western conference is pretty crucial to the NHL and this would fit the bill. two relocation candidates come to mind:

Arizona: but the problem here is they play in the Pacific division and Houston should logically be placed in the Central division. That could be fixed by moving Colorado to the Pacific (Mountain time zone, same as Alberta teams).

Carolina:
Win in that it helps rebalance the NHL by adding another team to the west from the east.

Both solutions would get rid of a weak franchise, and would allow the NHL to remain in a southern market (important).

[The Cobra]

Calgary is a very strong hockey market. It's doubtful the NHL would allow a team to leave Calgary when there are many struggling markets.

[calgaryred]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

Calgary is a very strong hockey market. It's doubtful the NHL would allow a team to leave Calgary when there are many struggling markets.

I agree there's worse markets

[Young_Guns]

There seems to be an obvious conference imbalance with a vacancy out West. If Seattle or Houston got there act together and notified the NHL that they were willing to pay, Bettman would have a franchise there via expansion in a heartbeat.

That said, the Coyotes remain a question mark, and I am not sure what happened with the sale of the Hurricanes. There's always Quebec City, but they are likely to be awarded a relocation if you ask me.

[LanceUppercut]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Arizona: but the problem here is they play in the Pacific division and Houston should logically be placed in the Central division. That could be fixed by moving Colorado to the Pacific (Mountain time zone, same as Alberta teams).

You would just need to move Houston to the Central. The pacific would have 7 teams until Seattle's expansion was approved.

[dissentowner]

Very bad idea. Considering the Dallas Stars have had many years where their attendance is near the bottom of the league why on earth would a Houston team do better?

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I've generally been against relocation and in favor of expansion but in the case of Houston I might be convinced otherwise. Keeping a team in the western conference is pretty crucial to the NHL and this would fit the bill. two relocation candidates come to mind:

Arizona: but the problem here is they play in the Pacific division and Houston should logically be placed in the Central division. That could be fixed by moving Colorado to the Pacific (Mountain time zone, same as Alberta teams).

Carolina:
Win in that it helps rebalance the NHL by adding another team to the west from the east.

Both solutions would get rid of a weak franchise, and would allow the NHL to remain in a southern market (important).

It would solve nothing. You would just have the same attendance issues in a new location.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Very bad idea. Considering the Dallas Stars have had many years where their attendance is near the bottom of the league why on earth would a Houston team do better?

What? I haven't looked up the stats recently but they were almost always sold out at Reunion Arena and then sold out the first few seasons at their new arena.

After that they had a few seasons at around 16k+ average and now they're back up again. They've never been near the bottom of the league as far as I know. Could be wrong.

Not to mention their grassroots hockey success is very incredible considering their location and climate.