How to Make Expansion and Relocation Work in the NHL

How is it possible that the NHL, a league with a number of teams in financial trouble, is considering an expansion plan?

And what makes Commissioner Gary Bettman think places like Kansas City and Las Vegas would be viable long-term hockey markets?

Kansas City would probably mirror Nashville: a city without enough fans to support even a successful team. The Kansas City sports market is already highly competitive, and the NHL would in all likelihood lose out to college basketball and the NFL.

As far as Las Vegas, yes, the operation could be bankrolled by high-rolling casinos and some very rich corporate supporters. But Vegas is largely a tourist town, a hard place for any sports team to grow roots. The city is also ranked outside the top-50 television markets in the United States.

 

To be fair, not every expansion option is a bad one. Some people talk about Houston as a potential NHL city. The Houston Aeros (American Hockey League affiliate of the Minnesota Wild) consistently draw some of the largest crowds in the AHL. If Houston could even approach the success of Dallas as an NHL market, it would be a worthwhile investment for the league.

 

And Seattle could make sense too, especially given that the city has the trappings of a traditional hockey town, and is one of the biggest TV markets in the United States.

 

With Bettman aiming for a national TV contract in the U.S., don't think viewer base isn't on his mind. 

 

Finally, there's Hamilton, Ontario. Personal bias aside (I live in Hamilton), I do believe the city could support an NHL franchise. The lack of corporate sponsorship is a concern for some...but 45 of 60 private boxes at Copps Coliseum sold out the first day deposits were taken on season tickets for the "Hamilton" Predators.

  

In a perfect world, the NHL would move the Nashville Predators to Hamilton and the Florida Panthers to Winnipeg. Then the league would establish expansion franchises in Houston and Seattle, although I don't believe it's a good idea to expand until the league's current franchises get on stable financial footing.

  

But then again what do I know? Let me know what you think about the potential NHL markets, or how you feel about the the possibility of the Predators leaving Nashville...