While both Houston and Austin have been in the conversation, Houston is the NHL's priority market over Austin due in part to it being the fourth-largest city in the U.S. and having a significantly larger media market.

Originally, Houston was the only Texas market the NHL discussed with, but at some point, Austin became part of the alternative.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire said that Houston is "ready" and that the NHL "would never regret it" choosing Houston, and believes in a "partnership" between professional sports franchises in Houston.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league is hoping to have a definitive agreement in place by December. Should the NHL and the ownership group get a framework in place this winter, there's a good chance the expansion team will be playing as soon as the 2029-30 NHL season. That said, the timeline isn't locked in. Commissioner Gary Bettman said in late September that the league is not in a formal round of expansion and that the Board of Governors is taking a "wait-and-see" approach, while Daly has acknowledged a vote may not come at the December board meeting.

There had been speculation Houston could leapfrog another potential expansion market in Quebec City, Canada. That said, the NHL has made it clear it wants to move forward with U.S. expansion as opposed to another Canadian expansion as the Houston ownership group and market has more viability behind it at the moment.

Should Houston receive the green light as the NHL's newest expansion market, the league would once again be adding a single expansion franchise, as it did with the Vegas Golden Knights (2017) and Seattle Kraken (2021), rather than waiting to add a pair of teams to balance out the divisions. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has made it clear the NHL is fine with not waiting for a 34th NHL franchise to expand if it doesn't pan out.

Written by

Lakshya