Well, buckle up, NHL fans. If you couldn’t get your NHL fix with 32 teams, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. While Bill Daly was in Europe for the annual player media tour, he all but confirmed that the NHL is officially on track to award its 33rd franchise to Texas, with an official announcement expected by the end of 2026.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly revealed that the league is in discussions with The Friedkin Group, led by billionaire Dan Friedkin, who has already agreed to the NHL’s robust $2 billion expansion fee. The new Texas franchise is very likely to be based in Houston, potentially Austin, and could begin playing as early as the 2029–30 season.
The NHL’s future newest billionaire to join the team-owner club is actually one of the good ones. Dan Friedkin works heavily in wildlife preservation and donates a notable percentage of his net worth to ecological, archaeological, and community causes.
Houston is a fantastic market for the NHL to expand into. It has a huge corporate presence, a strong media market, and built-in infrastructure that would make putting an NHL team there a virtually seamless process.
But that would make for an uneven 33 NHL franchises. And, of course, instead of diluting some of the less-performing NHL franchises and maybe relocating them to better markets like Houston, where they would thrive, Gary Bettman is itching to charge another billionaire that $2 billion expansion fee so he can serve his other NHL owner overlords and keep their already-inflated bank accounts and assets even higher.
Daly: NHL expansion to Houston, Austin could come by 2029-30 https://t.co/nxVWJWEigz
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) August 23, 2026
So, who will be the lucky 34th NHL franchise, and where could that new kid on the block possibly be located?
The league is actively gauging interest in two markets that didn’t work out the first time. And another case didn’t work out the SECOND time an NHL franchise was there.
Atlanta and Phoenix are back in the running to get an NHL franchise.
Yes, you read that sentence correctly.
Instead of going somewhere else with a big economy where a team would absolutely work—cough Kansas City, cough, cough Quebec—Gary Bettman, in his infinite wisdom (and ego), is determined to put an NHL franchise back in markets where they failed so horribly before.
Both of Atlanta’s attempts—the Atlanta Flames (1972–1980) and Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2011)—failed miserably amid financial struggles, arena issues, lawsuits, horrible marketing, and poor team performance.
The Flames were relocated to Calgary, where they became the Calgary Flames, and the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, where they became the Winnipeg Jets 2.0. Why Gary Bettman and the NHL would go back to a market where they failed twice is logic beyond my comprehension and reason.
Next up for the 34th possible NHL franchise: your friendly neighborhood Phoenix, Arizona. Remember them? The Coyotes struggled for three decades with financial chaos, poor attendance, unstable arena situations, and horrible ownership.
This market was not only a black eye for the NHL, but also for Gary Bettman’s legacy as commissioner of the National Hockey League.
The Coyotes franchise consistently lost Scrooge McDuck levels of money and went bankrupt to the point where the NHL was forced into owning and operating the team itself for four years just to keep the franchise breathing. In the NHL’s “wisdom,” they then moved the team to Mullett Arena, which is a minuscule 5,000-seat college facility. Every single home game was an absolute embarrassment to the league.
Bettman didn’t ultimately accept defeat on this failed franchise until he absolutely had to move them. Ownership continually promised a new arena but failed to secure the necessary land votes, including the rejected Tempe referendum. This decisive failure exhausted the NHL’s patience, leading the league to deactivate the franchise and move it to a fantastic owner, Ryan Smith, in Utah, where it is now The Utah Mammoth.
Playoff Format Change
As if expanding to 34 teams wasn’t a bad enough idea, Bill Daly stated that an expanded playoff format could follow expansion, saying, “I think certainly an argument can be made that once you’re over 32 franchises, you’re looking at maybe an expanded playoff of some sort.”
So, on top of the current NHL playoff format, which many players, coaches, and analysts dislike because of its convoluted and unnecessary divisional-based bracket system, they will be forced to change it again to accommodate more teams in the league.
I know exactly what they want to do. They want “play-in” games so badly they can taste the extra sponsorship and advertising dollars in their greedy little mouths.
When the NHL goes to its absurd 34-team league, it will only expand on the problems of talent dilution, a diminishing fan experience, and obviously higher consumer costs that will come with a rising salary cap driven by new revenue.
As many fans and analysts have repeatedly stated, a 32-team league is the perfect number.
While I don’t disagree with expansion into better markets with more responsible and reliable owners like Houston and Dan Friedkin, this must be done responsibly, respectfully, and with actual consideration for the fans and their experience.
While the NHL is patting itself on the back and doing victory laps over its own recent success, biting off more than its fan base can financially chew in a diminishing North American economy can bite this league right on the ass.
Because those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Add us as a preferred source on Google