The NHL is working towards another expansion franchise with Atlanta and Houston leading the way as reported by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes.
Weekes anticipates that a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has to be signed first, but other reports indicate there may be an agreement ahead of schedule.
League projections show that the revenue is expected to be around $6.5 and $7 billion USD this year.
If the NHL expand to 34 teams, which is now a matter of when and not if at this point, it would bring 27 teams to the United States.
Houston previously had a professional hockey team in the WHA, the Houston Aeros, which competed between 1972 and folded in 1978. The Aeros weren’t around for long but found success in their short existence as they competed in the WHA playoffs in each of their six seasons with two championships.
The Aeros went on to close their doors in 1978, just a year before the NHL acquired five WHA teams in the NHL/WHA merger.
Should the NHL expand to Atlanta, it will be the third attempt to have an NHL team in the city. The Atlanta Flames were the first iteration which started in 1972 before moving to Calgary in 1980 and remaining there.
The second iteration of an NHL team in Atlanta was the Thrashers in 2000, but they weren’t any better of a team. They made the postseason once in 11 seasons (2007) where they were swept by the New York Rangers. In 2011, the Thrashers were relocated to Winnipeg for the second iteration of the Winnipeg Jets.
Both teams enjoyed watching hockey greats play for their teams, Houston watched Gordie Howe play while the Thrashers enjoyed watching Ilya Kovalchuk and more.
The NHL is known to want teams in the bigger US markets which could also see a return to Phoenix, Arizona soon. Houston’s Metro area has the fifth-largest population in the USA with over 7.1 million people while Atlanta’s Metro area sits sixth-place with a population of over 6.3 million people.
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