Two new teams reportedly to be added to the NHL via expansion

The NHL has been quite successful with the recent expansions into Las Vegas and Seattle, and it's now looking ahead to further growth.

Once again, Atlanta rises to the top among the many hopefuls for NHL expansion, with Houston being a close second. A report from Sportsnet's Scott Burnside said on September 17 that one of the major factors pushing this bid to this point is a firm commitment toward securing a state-of-the-art arena with some very serious financial backing.

The NHL's previous expansions added the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken as the 31st and 32nd teams, respectively, within the last decade. More recently, it has also moved the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City, creating the Utah Hockey Club.

Now, the league looks at potential future expansion, and Houston and Atlanta are at the forefront to be the 33rd and 34th franchises in the NHL, with Atlanta setting itself apart into a strong position with financial backing and arena development plans.

The NHL has been to Atlanta before, both with the Flames and the Thrashers, neither of which ended up succeeding. However, this time, with a new arena in a better location and stronger ownership, things may be different.

According to Burnside, the driving force behind this second attempt at resurrecting hockey in Atlanta is Vernon Krause, a billionaire from the automotive industry. His group, which includes Frank Ferrara and former NHLer Tim Ecclestone, has been working closely with the local hockey scene to bolster the bid.

One key differential for Atlanta will be financial readiness to pay the $1 billion expansion fee. Additionally, the group behind the effort has committed to building a new arena, with $225 million already committed towards the project. The total cost of the arena is expected to reach $3 billion, which puts the overall investment equal to the expansion fee, at nearly $4 billion.

That is a lot, but it is what the NHL considers an exciting opportunity as Atlanta represents one of the fastest-growing cities in the country with very well-established teams in other major sports. Even though Houston and Quebec City have arenas in place, the financial backing and commitment to new facilities could make Atlanta the front-runner.

Now, all that is left to iron out is arena funding and how successful a hockey team can be for the long term in a city where previously they failed.