NHL Expansion Opportunity In Houston And Austin Suggests More Teams Are On The Way
Five years after Seattle was awarded an NHL franchise, the league could be growing once again.
On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league will open a six-month process to investigate Houston or Austin, Texas, as the 33rd team. And don't be surprised if we get a 34th team soon after.
This is news that's been in the pipeline for years.
Houston is a dynamic sports market that is currently home to NBA, NFL and MLB franchises. The geographic proximity that will bubble up between a Houston (or Austin) team and the Dallas Stars will fit in perfectly with Bettman's regional-rivalry approach to drumming up business in NHL markets.
NHL Exploring Possibility Of Bringing 33rd Franchise To Texas With Houston And Austin In The Mix
A $2 billion expansion fee and mandatory new arena anchor a high-stakes evaluation process as the league weighs Houston's established market against Austin's explosive tech-driven growth.
Some Canadian fans will be disappointed that Quebec City isn't likely to be awarded an expansion team. But the writing has been on the wall for Quebec for a long time.
The league doesn't mind staging a few exhibition games every season in La Belle Province, but if the league had really wanted to house a team in Quebec City, it would've happened by now. Quebec company Quebecor made a bid at the same time the Vegas Golden Knights did but didn't succeed.
Regardless, adding a second team in Texas makes a ton of sense for the NHL. The demographics are great, and there is a history of hockey in Houston that the league could build off of as it cultivates another regional rivalry.
Thus, it feels like it's only a matter of time before Texas has two NHL teams. The league has three teams in the New York City area and three in California. So expanding to Texas is likely to be well worth the investment the NHL will be making in the state.
It's clear hockey's top league will eventually have 33 or 34 teams. It almost feels too late to turn back now, and the NHL appears ready, willing and able to increase its footprint in North America by growing the game in two new markets.
So, whether or not you like the idea of expansion, you should prepare for it.
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This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 2:42 PM.