By ESPN | Created at 2025-03-20 21:44:41 | Updated at 2025-03-21 16:44:54
19 hours ago
American billionaire Dan Friedkin has emerged as a strong ownership option to bring the NHL to Houston, sources told ESPN.
Attempts to reach The Friedkin Group for comment were unsuccessful, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed in an email that the league has met with the group "on a number of occasions about potential interest in a Houston expansion franchise."
Friedkin, who is the CEO of the Houston-based The Freidkin Group, has begun his foray into professional sports ownership over the last several years. In 2020, the company bought the Italian Serie A club AS Roma. In 2024, TFG became majority owners of the English Premier League club Everton. Earlier this month, TFG helped secure £350 million in funding for a new stadium for Everton.
According to reports, the TFG was also considering a bid for the Boston Celtics of the NBA, which sold on Thursday for a record $6.1 billion.
Friedkin is chairman and CEO of Gulf States Toyota.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has tried to cool off expansion rumors recently, telling reporters in October that the topic never came up at this fall's Board of Governors meeting and that expansion was not a "front-burner topic."
Leading Bettman's agenda right now is a new collective bargaining agreement with the players. The NHL and NHLPA are expected to begin formal CBA discussions on April 1. The NHL also needs to negotiate a new Canadian TV deal.
Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta previously had conversations with the NHL about the possibility of owning a hockey team, however it appears Friedkin's group emerged as a more viable option.
The NHL went from 30 to 32 clubs when it added Vegas (which began play in 2017-18) and Seattle (debut in 2021-22). The expansion fees for Vegas was $500 million and Seattle was $650 million.
If the NHL decided to expands again, they could look to add two clubs - but stagger their start dates.
Atlanta is believed to be another strong candidate for potential expansion. The NHL has twice left Atlanta, most recently in 2011 when the Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg. However progress made on a possible return to Atlanta over the last several months.
This week, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry posted to social media that he had an "extremely productive call" with the NHL about the prospect of a team in New Orleans.
NHL leaders have re-iterated over the last several years that they have fielded calls from across North America. At the 2024 NHL All Star weekend, Bettman rattled off a list of cities the NHL had heard from expressing interest, including Omaha, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Houston and Salt Lake City. The NHL ended up putting a team in Salt Lake City, relocating the team from Atlanta to Utah ahead of this season.
