- Bill Daly says metro Atlanta is “not even remotely close” to an application phase
- A Forsyth County developer told neighbors its financing packet is already with the NHL
- Read below for where the 33rd and 34th franchises actually stand
The NHL just poured cold water on Atlanta.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly was asked about a report that one of the metro area’s development groups had sent its financing package to the league. He told The Athletic’s Michael Russo that Atlanta is “not even remotely close to an application phase.”
That report started with an internal neighborhood email obtained by Christopher King of Fox 5 Atlanta. In it, the team behind The Gathering at South Forsyth told residents the project’s final financing packet had gone to the NHL for review, with two major capital partners on board.
Krause Sports and Entertainment, the developer planning an 18,000-seat arena on Ronald Reagan Boulevard, would not confirm any of it. The company only said the $3 billion project is moving ahead with “purpose, significant investment and a clear path to execution.”
A second group is chasing the same franchise. Its plan would turn North Point Mall into an NHL-caliber venue, and Alpharetta approved the zoning changes for it last month. Two developers, one market, no team to hand out yet.
League attention is somewhere else entirely. Daly said last month the NHL is on track to award a 33rd franchise to Houston or Austin by the end of the calendar year, with a Texas team targeted for 2029-30. Atlanta would be in the mix for a 34th, and that process has not formally started.
History is the other hurdle. The Flames spent eight seasons in Atlanta before heading to Calgary in 1980, and the Thrashers lasted 11 more before becoming the Jets in 2011. No other city has been handed two NHL teams and lost both.
The counterargument is the seventh-largest media market in the United States, which is why the league keeps taking the calls.
We put the bigger question up this week next to a graphic of Nashville’s projected forward group and the line that the NHL wants to add another four teams to the league:
Stocking 32 rosters is already a stretch. Adding more markets stretches it further, and Daly’s answer says the league is in no hurry to find out how far.
