Houston and Austin are bidding for an NHL franchise.
The late David Stern once remarked, while he was the National Basketball Association Commissioner between 1984 and 2014, that a successful franchise needs three things, government support, a large TV contract and major corporate support. It was a three-legged chair and you needed all three to keep the chair upright. The National Hockey League ownership group has decided that Texas would be a good place to expand but where in Texas? Austin or Houston? The potential owner would be Dan Friedkin and he is out there kicking the tires in Austin and in Houston. Friedkin now has the government support he needs if he decides Houston is the place and he needs government support to build an arena in town. Houston Mayor John Whitmire is solidly behind Friedkin’s bid.
“We’re ready. In fact, we’re talking to multiple parties that are interested. So when we get a proposal, if the city can do something to a system, we’ll be there,” Whitmire said. “We’ll definitely be a better location than Austin. “I think (the NHL) would never regret it if they gave a franchise to Houston. They’d never regret it. Austin is a great city, but it’s not Houston. If you talk to the sports franchises in town, I think they’d tell you we’re great partners.” Houston and Harris County taxpayers have put up money for a baseball park, a football venue and an arena. Friedkin’s Pursuit Sports is also talking to Austin politicians. Austin has just one major league team, a Major League Soccer franchise but the University of Texas is located in the city and the University of Texas football team is as big a sports franchise as there is in Texas. Friedkin is in an exclusive six-month negotiating period with the NHL’s brass in an attempt to land a franchise.
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