NHL owners consider Las Vegas

BOCA RATON, Fla. – NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that the Board of Governors had no objection to billionaire businessman Bill Foley exploring the level of interest in an expansion team coming to the city of Las Vegas.

Bettman was adamant that nothing more should be read into the league’s consideration of Foley’s request in terms of any advancement in expansion discussions. He explained that the interest from Foley and Las Vegas raised questions about the viability of that market being able to support a team, which is why Foley wants to conduct a season ticket drive and see what kind of numbers are achieved.

There are 30 franchises operating in the NHL and even though there has been interest shown by other cities in addition to Las Vegas, like Quebec City and Seattle, there is no guarantee that enough votes would be procured to approve any expansion.

“There is no formal expansion process,” Bettman said. “There is no vote that was taken today. There is no vote that was contemplated.”

The other two highlights on the agenda that Bettman placed a priority on were the preliminary projections of what the salary cap will be next season and an update on the transfer of ownership of the Arizona Coyotes to Andrew Barroway.