- The Friedkin Group has leased office space in Austin as the NHL expansion review runs on
- Pursuit Sports CEO David Beeston is expected to spend heavy time in the city
- Read below for Austin’s arena problem and the numbers Houston still owns
Austin is not out of this.
The Friedkin Group has leased office space in the state capital while the NHL works through its six-month study of Texas, the Chron reported Monday, following Justin Sayers’ reporting in the Austin Business Journal. Pursuit Sports CEO David Beeston is expected to spend heavy time in the city while negotiations continue.
Houston has been treated as the obvious answer for weeks. Media-market numbers published earlier this month put Houston sixth among U.S. markets and Austin 32nd, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly said on The Sick Podcast that the league and its owners are “primarily interested” in Houston.
An office lease is not a franchise. It is money spent on the city everyone keeps calling the long shot.
Visit Austin CEO Tom Noonan, whose organization has already had introductory conversations with Beeston, welcomed the attention:
“I’m really pleased that the Friedkin group and Pursuit Sports are giving us a shot in this.”
Austin’s problem is the building. Stakeholders describe the city as ground zero on a facility, with the Moody Center on the University of Texas campus as the only realistic short-term home. It seats roughly 15,000 and can be configured for hockey, but a purpose-built rink is what the league actually wants. Houston has the Toyota Center sitting there today.
Gary Bettman laid out that question in June when the review opened:
“That’s part of the process is to determine what would be best, both for the league and for Dan Friedkin and family. Both will require a new arena. It may be more feasible in one place than the other. And as we dig a little deeper and do the due diligence, we’ll figure out which makes the most sense.”
Houston keeps its lead almost everywhere else. Figures compiled for Sporting News show 2,404 registered USA Hockey players in Houston against 2,047 in Austin, three TAHA-sanctioned organizations to Austin’s one, and 10 travel teams for the Houston Junior Aeros against nine for the Austin Capitals.
A new junior team arrives in Houston this fall, too. Season tickets for the NAHL’s Houston Bulls are already gone ahead of an Oct. 2 home opener in Richmond.
Friedkin is staring at roughly $2 billion for the expansion fee alone, and up to $3.5 billion once an arena goes up. The window that opened in late June runs about six months, which points to a decision around December and a 33rd team on the ice by 2029-30.
The lease does not make Austin the favorite. It does put somebody from Friedkin’s group in an Austin office while the league makes up its mind.
