Ownership - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, recently held “preliminary discussions” about the possibility of an NHL franchise in the area, reports The Athletic’s Katie Strang.
Fertitta purchased the Rockets for a reported $2.2 billion in September. Then soon after that, he told a local reporter that he was also interested in having an NHL team join the Rockets in Houston. After the news of the meeting broke, Fertitta reiterated his interest in bringing the NHL to Houston on Twitter. All of this makes Houston the latest team to hit the NHL radar in addition to Seattle and Quebec City.
Population - Houston is the fifth-most populated metropolitan area in the United States after New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas-Fort Worth, so it’s not hard to see why the NHL would be interested in moving there. Having a potential owner and arena already in place with Fertitta and the Toyota Center only makes the city even more appealing.
Hockey History - Back in 1998, then-Rockets owner Leslie Alexander tried to buy the Edmonton Oilers as part of a $82.5 million transaction that would’ve moved the team to Houston. The deal fell apart, however, when an Edmonton-based group stepped in with the necessary money to keep the team in Alberta.
Professional hockey dates back to 1946 in Houston with the establishment of the Houston Skippers. This was followed by the Houston Apollos, the Houston Aeros of the WHA and the Houston Aeros of the AHL. The WHA Houston Aeros were an original member of the World Hockey Association. From 1972 to 1978, the Aeros twice won the AVCO World Trophy and featured the first father/son combination to play together in professional hockey, Gordie Howe and his two sons Mark and Marty. They also enjoyed a large and loyal fanbase.
The Aeros, despite being a successful franchise, were left out of the NHL-WHA merger and were forced to fold in 1978.
Another team called the Houston Aeros, and based in the AHL, played in the city from 1994 to 2013 before relocating to become the Iowa Wild after failing to reach a new lease agreement with the Toyota Center. Originally they played at The Summit (renamed the Compaq Center in 1998 and converted to a megachurch after the Aeros' departure). There’s been no significant professional hockey presence in the country’s fifth-largest metro since then.
Arena – The afore mentioned Toyota Center. Currently home to the NBA’s Rockets but was also home to the AHL’s Aero’s up until 2013. This venue could host hockey tomorrow.
These may only be preliminary discussions as part of the much more complicated process involving a lot of people and even more money, but this is undeniably interesting for the NHL’s future geographic footprint.
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