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NHL Exploring Possible Expansion In Las Vegas

By Gerald Tracy

Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addresses the crowd before the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addresses the crowd before the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NHL expanded to 30 teams in 2000 when they added the Blue Jackets and Wild to the league but now Gary Bettman has announced they will gauge the interest of a possible expansion to Las Vegas. 

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NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman confirmed December 8 that him and the Board of Governors have no objection to allowing billionaire Bill Foley gauge the interest of the Las Vegas area on bringing an expansion team in.

The constant pressure from Foley over the past year to bring a NHL team in to Las Vegas has raised questions about the viability of the market to support a team. To do this Foley will conduct a season-ticket drive and report the numbers received back to the league.

Bettman wanted to make sure everyone knew that this doesn’t mean there will be an expansion, just exploration of possibly adding a new team. There have been other cities of course that have shown interest in a possible NHL team, such as Quebec City and Seattle, but there is no solid proof that a vote would be passed to allow the expansion so nothing has been done yet.

"“There is no formal expansion process,” Bettman said. “There is no vote that was taken today. There is no vote that was contemplated. We don’t have an agreement to sell anybody an expansion process.”"

The league has never studied the possibility of expanding to Las Vegas so there is no timeline or promises made at the moment.

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