{"id":4877,"date":"2026-06-23T19:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4877"},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:09:17","slug":"nhl-exploring-texas-expansion-opportunities-in-houston-and-austin-ap-source-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4877","title":{"rendered":"NHL exploring Texas expansion opportunities in Houston and Austin, AP source says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – The Houston skyline overlooks the Buffalo Bayou as it snakes its\u2019 way into downtown April 18, 2014. (AP Photo\/Pat Sullivan, File)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 The NHL is exploring potential expansion to Texas with Houston and Austin among the possibilities, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday.<\/p>

Read more US eases restriction on Iran\u2019s World Cup team, allowing travel 2 days before next match<\/a><\/p>\n

The league\u2019s Board of Governors had their annual post-Stanley Cup Final and pre-draft meeting on Tuesday in New York. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the expansion consideration had not been announced. ESPN and Sportsnet were first to report the move.<\/p>\n

While there is no guarantee the NHL adds a 33rd team, it is a first step toward becoming the largest professional sports league in North America, surpassing the NFL. Commissioner Gary Bettman in recent years has been careful to say officials were listening to expressions of interest from prospective owners in places like Houston and Atlanta but not yet engaged in a formal path toward expansion.<\/p>\n

The league last expanded to 32 with the Seattle Kraken beginning play in 2021 after the Vegas Golden Knights started in the 2017-18 season. Before that, there had been 30 teams since 2000, when Columbus and Minnesota entered.<\/p>

Read more Blazers hire Wolves assistant Micah Nori as head coach, a year after Chauncey Billups\u2019 sudden exit<\/a><\/p>\n

The recent success stories, combined with booming franchise values across sports, spurred talk of expansion in hockey circles, especially because expansion fees could exceed $1 billion. Seattle paid $650 million and Las Vegas $500 million.<\/p>\n

From Florida to Texas to California and places in between, the NHL has enjoyed strong popularity across the Sun Belt and non-traditional hockey markets over the past four decades. Teams were added in South Florida and Tampa in Florida, San Jose and Anaheim in Calfironia, Nashville, Tennessee, and Las Vegas while relocations put teams in Dallas and Raleigh, North Carolina, Denver and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Teams in those places have won the Stanley Cup the past seven years in a row and 13 times dating to Colorado\u2019s championship run in 1995-96.<\/p>

Read more Ronaldo becomes first player to score in six World Cups with goal against Uzbekistan<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/NHL<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NHL is exploring expansion to Texas, with Houston and Austin as possibilities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNHL exploring Texas expansion opportunities in Houston and Austin, AP source says - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4877\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NHL exploring Texas expansion opportunities in Houston and Austin, AP source says - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The NHL is exploring expansion to Texas, with Houston and Austin as possibilities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4877\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T19:09:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/28941913f38b4962c213843545ff1ae8-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"NHL exploring Texas expansion opportunities in Houston and Austin, AP source says\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T19:09:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877\"},\"wordCount\":386,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0471fdb9571ad6022b19a0de7cb1a933-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877\",\"name\":\"NHL exploring Texas expansion opportunities in Houston and Austin, AP source says - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0471fdb9571ad6022b19a0de7cb1a933-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T19:09:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4877#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0471fdb9571ad6022b19a0de7cb1a933-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0471fdb9571ad6022b19a0de7cb1a933-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"FILE - The Houston skyline overlooks the Buffalo Bayou as it snakes its' way into downtown April 18, 2014. 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