A hockey team coming to Austin or Houston? What you need to know about NHL expansion

A hockey team coming to Austin or Houston? What you need to know about NHL expansion. Skip to main content Skip to navigation A hockey team coming to Austin or Houston?

What happened

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Follow on XMultiple AuthorsSep 16, 2026, 07:00 AM ETEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSince June 23, the debate about where an NHL expansion team should go in Texas has been focused on two cities: Houston and Austin. Just because an owner has the financial means to run a team doesn't mean that the league and its 32 members are going to approve where that group wants to place a franchise. — WyshynskiWhat is the pro sports footprint for Austin and Houston, and has it ever included any form of hockey?

This all started when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is exploring placing a second team in Texas with Austin and Houston as potential targets. But rather than just being a stalking horse in the expansion race, Austin started to garner more attention from the Friedkin family as a possible home for its expansion team.

The wider picture

But immediate success for a team in Houston or Austin will come down to three factors:1. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN last week that he would reach out to the Friedkins for an update, including a temperature check on Austin and Houston as their current focus for NHL expansion. A 33rd team could begin play in the coming seasons — with its home rink in the Lone Star State. 5M AAV, source saysAnaheim Ducks11hEmily KaplanCapitals say Ovechkin was asked to appear in Putin political adWashington Capitals19hWild sign coach Hynes to multiyear extensionMinnesota Wild21hKristen ShiltonBurning preseason questions for all 32 NHL teams: Quinn Hughes' future, Sharks' playoff chances, Panthers' new facesAnaheim Ducks6dRyan Clark and Kristen Shilton'Not as bad as some of the others': NHL players react to their odd NHL 27 facial scansChicago Blackhawks5dGreg WyshynskiRemembering Barry Melrose, 'the unquestioned face and voice of hockey in the U.

Although Houston remains the largest metropolitan area in the nation without an NHL franchise, Austin has thrived as one of the fastest-growing markets for more than 15 years. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski are here to answer those questions about Austin, Houston and what it could all mean going forward. How did Austin get on the NHL's expansion radar? An NHL franchise in Houston would be another pro team in a crowded sports market, much like the Kraken were in Seattle — a market that is even more competitive when the NBA is in season.

What has been reported

An NHL team in Austin would be more like the Golden Knights were in Vegas: the first ones through the door among the "big four" sports, immediately creating a bond with local fans. The market's first and lone professional team among the major men's leagues is Austin FC in Major League Soccer. Until Austin FC began MLS play five years ago, the city was the largest market in the nation without a pro team. Austin has also been home to minor league teams.

Austin has had the Stars since the team relocated from Iowa in 2009. Houston has a more established professional sports scene, with six teams across the major men's and women's leagues starting in 2027. The oldest team is the Houston Astros; the two-time World Series champions have played in the city since 1962. Houston initially lost its NFL team to Nashville but gained another with the Houston Texans, founded in 1999 with their first season in 2002.

What happens next

The Fertitta family, which owns the Rockets, reached an agreement in March to purchase the Connecticut Sun, relocate the team to Houston and rename it the Houston Comets. That led to the team moving to Houston, where it became the Aeros. Last season, the club left its famed Goodison Park venue and moved into Hill Dickinson Stadium, the eighth-largest soccer venue in England. — ClarkExpansion teams usually struggle to start. Absolutely, thanks to the lessons it will have learned from the Vegas and Seattle expansion drafts. (Though the Utah Mammoth are technically an expansion team, their players were ported over from the Arizona Coyotes when that franchise ended its existence. )It's expected that any new expansion team will have the same rules as the Golden Knights and Kraken did during their respective drafts:NHL teams can protect either eight skaters and a goaltender or seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender.

Teams must expose at least two forwards and one defenseman who are under contract for the inaugural season of the expansion team. Famously, the Golden Knights leveraged those rules into a series of significant trades with jittery teams that had a little over a year to prepare for the expansion draft. Infamously, Seattle didn't have the same opportunity, as teams better understood the rules, were more prepared and didn't flinch from expansion draft pressure points.