Atlanta Hockey Fever: NHL Eyes Third Suitor as Expansion Circus Heats Up
HENDERSON, Nev. — Atlanta, the NHL just can't quit you.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN on Wednesday that the league is in talks with a third group about an expansion team in the ATL, adding another layer to a race that already has two publicly identified bidders trying to lock down arena plans.
The third group? Anson Carter's crew
Daly said the third group is headed by former NHL player and current TNT hockey analyst Anson Carter, who had previously been involved with the Alpharetta bid. According to Daly, Carter has broken with the Alpharetta group he was championing before and has indicated he has adequate financing, showing some evidence of it, though he hasn't chosen a location.
Carter's group is looking at sites north of Atlanta. Daly said Carter is committed to a better location than either Alpharetta or The Gathering.
Alpharetta vs. South Forsyth
The two known Atlanta bids are scrapping for positioning. The Alpharetta City Council approved zoning changes for a massive redevelopment of North Point Mall that would include a 20,000-seat NHL-ready arena. About seven miles away, Krause Sports & Entertainment has been moving forward with plans to build an arena at The Gathering in South Forsyth. Both projects are contingent on the NHL granting an expansion team to either location.
The South Forsyth crew recently got a verbal slap from the league after releasing info that it had submitted a final packet for approval. Vernon Krause of Krause Sports and Entertainment said in a statement that information shared during a recent community update, and later distributed by email, was premature and incomplete, leading to inaccurate statements on social media.
Daly said he reached out personally. He said they claimed people associated with their efforts got over their skis a little bit, and that they received an angry call from him when it was all coming down and he didn't know anything about it.
Third time the charm?
This would be the third time the NHL has put a team in Atlanta. The Flames relocated to Calgary in 1980. The Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg in 2011. Daly said the potential is there for the third time to be the charm.
He added that a full market analysis in the Atlanta region will be important, especially so ownership understands why it would be different this time. Daly argued Atlanta has changed dramatically and significantly over time, and that building location will be very, very important.
Texas is closer, Phoenix is lurking
While Atlanta's bids are down the line, potential NHL expansion to Houston or Austin is closer to reality as the league seeks a second team in Texas alongside the Dallas Stars.
In June, the NHL entered an agreement with the Friedkin family, giving them six months to explore expansion to one of those two markets. The agreed investment is $3.5 billion, which includes an expansion fee and building costs for an NHL arena. The Texas group reportedly hopes to have a team ready for the 2029-30 NHL season.
Daly said there will be an update on the Texas expansion process at the next NHL Board of Governors meeting in New York on Sept. 22. He mentioned a tentative timeline of being ready to do agreements by the end of the calendar year, but wasn't sure whether they're on target.
Houston is the sixth largest television market in the U.S. but has several professional teams. Austin appeals to the NHL demographically as a hub for tech companies and as a city where the league would be first in the market, much like it was in Las Vegas.
Daly said both markets have strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately the board decides whether to expand at all and where the primary location would be.
The NHL is also considering a return to Phoenix after the assets of the Arizona Coyotes were sold to Ryan Smith in 2024, who used them to create an expansion team in Utah. Daly said at least two groups in Phoenix have had discussions with the NHL about an expansion franchise.
He said he doesn't think the league ever soured on Phoenix as a market; the issue was the location of the building. With the right location, Daly said the collective belief is Phoenix would be a great market.
Still, Daly cautioned that further NHL expansion isn't a foregone conclusion. He said he doesn't want to get ahead of the board or treat it like a done deal because it's not. It's not done on the Friedkin side, and it's not done on the NHL side. That's why it's a nonbinding term sheet. Both sides will work hard to achieve the goal, but at the end of the day, it might not happen.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.