During NHL All-Star weekend NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made some key comments regarding NHL expansion. Currently both Las Vegas and Quebec City have bids submitted to join the NHL. Bettman was very non-committal in his comments but also did not close the door on expansion coming to the league in 2017-18, which has been the earliest possible target date. Bettman said the following:
“The process is continuing, and we’re not ready to make a recommendation. That is something that will be done over the next few months, and that recommendation can be no expansion, one team or two teams. So the process is ongoing, but I don’t have a firm date for you. I’ve always said the earliest we would expand is 17-18 and whatever we do the clubs need at least a full year. As long as there is at least a year lead time, we could make ’17-18, but if we don’t make ’17-18 we don’t make ’17-18”
My advice to the commissioner is to strike while the iron is hot in Las Vegas, as it has a lot to offer and help the league to continue, to grow the game.
Why Have the NHL in Las Vegas?
Vegas is in the top thirty of the biggest markets in the U.S.A. Vegas has a new state of the art, 20,000 seat palace (T-Mobile arena) that is set to open in the beginning of April. Per the potential new owner, Bill Foley, the proposed franchise in Vegas has secured nearly 14,000 full season ticket deposits as of mid-December. Let’s not leave out the fact that 100% of the luxury suites have been sold already. In addition the people of Vegas have been clamoring for a professional sports franchise for some time now. If the NHL can be the first of the four professional sports leagues to land in Las Vegas it very well could be a bonanza for the league.
Do not overlook Las Vegas’ secret weapon: Mr. Foley. Having a deep pocketed, committed, smart potential owner who has both a short-term and long-term vision for this proposed hockey team goes a long way, for both the city and the league. If Vegas lands a hockey team everyone in Sin City should be thanking Mr. Foley.
NHL expansion to Las Vegas is still on the table according to the commissioner: > https://t.co/8cnA1iLdRH pic.twitter.com/7uv18wwcN1
— FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) January 31, 2016
Continue to Expand the Game, and Oh Yeah, $500 Million
By going to Vegas the NHL will continue to expand the game in an untapped major market. The two areas of the country that are obvious choices are the southwest and northwest (hello Seattle). It doesn’t hurt either in a perfect world that the league would add two western cities, as there are currently two more teams in the Eastern Conference. By the way, let’s not forget the $500 million expansion fee check that Mr. Foley is willing to write; that’s a very healthy direct deposit for the current thirty owners. Considering the league is dealing with a declining Canadian dollar and rising player salaries, that expansion money could be very timely.
Calm Now, But Not Forever: @DanaLaneSports explains his wide ranging emotions on the NHL expansion process. https://t.co/FVKPzl0Onk
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) February 3, 2016
Reasons to Say No to Vegas … Please !!!
The white elephant in the room is Vegas is the gambling capital in America and we are talking about bringing a professional sports franchise to the desert. Sports league gets very wary of the impact of gambling on their game. However, even the commissioner shot this down as a sticking point, as the NHL constitutes less than 1% of the sports book bets here in the states.
So what is holding this up? Am I to believe the holdup is over how the expansion draft will work or where Vegas would be slotted in the 2017 NHL Draft, specifically the first round? Folks, these are small potatoes issues when you look at the big picture. The key questions to be answered are, can Vegas thrive as an NHL city and make the league grow and be that much stronger? Can Las Vegas be the next Nashville in terms of expansion? Those are the issues at hand. If the answers to those key questions are a big thumbs up, then the league needs to move forward and grant Las Vegas an NHL franchise.
The NHL would be wise not to blow this golden opportunity.
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