It was announced recently that Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Orr attended a Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, where zoning approval was granted for an arena district. Is NHL expansion on the horizon?
Forgot to mention this, but Bobby Orr is on the Krause train as he was in attendance at tonight’s meeting. https://t.co/uIE4xTzMRw
— NHL to Atlanta (@NHLtoAtlanta) January 10, 2025
NHL In Atlanta… Again?
Orr appeared alongside a team led by Vernon Krause, best known for his work with Krause Auto Group, a series of car dealerships throughout the southeastern United States. At the meeting, the development of an arena and mixed-use zoning was approved. While it may take some time, the Atlanta contingency to bring back the NHL to the Atlanta area is in the works. It certainly can’t hurt their chances to have a hockey legend like Orr backing their initiative.
Of course, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has clarified that the NHL expansion is not being looked at now. The most obvious downside to an NHL team going to Atlanta would be that a franchise has already left the city twice: the Atlanta Flames existed from 1972 to 1980 before moving to Calgary, and the Atlanta Thrashers called the city home from 1999 to 2011 before moving to Winnipeg. The Atlanta expansion could possibly happen, but there are no guarantees.
Many critics complain that Atlanta is a bad choice, since they failed twice to make NHL hockey thrive there. The past franchises in Atlanta had bad ownership and poor attendance.
Arizona’s Failure Could Mean Atlanta Has A Shot at NHL Expansion
After the Tempe residents turned down a vote to build an arena, it was only a matter of time before the team was relocated. The Utah Hockey Club now plays in Salt Lake City. Other potential NHL locations include Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas City, Omaha, and Atlanta. The Phoenix area may also pursue getting another team. They should solicit support from the Arizona Coyotes legend, Shane Doan, much like Orr’s involvement in adding Atlanta.
It may boil down to who has an NHL-sized arena, and what the ownership group looks like. The Gathering at South Forsyth is a proposed mixed-use development in the Atlanta metropolitan area in Forsyth County, Georgia, near Alpharetta. The development’s centerpiece is an 18,000-seat arena intended to bring a National Hockey League franchise back to Atlanta. In March 2024, details on the arena cost came out, which said that the arena would cost $700 million, and that ASM Global would manage the arena. This group has managed other arenas, such as T-Mobile Arena and Crypto.com Arena.
Add in the fact that the NHL may charge as much as $1-2 billion, and a potential owner will need to have deep pockets to afford a new franchise.
Bobby Orr And NHL Expansion
Expanding is a hot topic, especially with all the talk of adding new NHL teams. Will the league go from the current 32 teams to 34? Or, to keep things manageable for scheduling and playoffs, will they need to go as high as 36 clubs? That would mean there would be 18 teams in each conference, with nine teams in each of the two divisions. Could that happen within a reasonable amount of time? Some question if the talent exists to have that many teams in the NHL.
At this point, Atlanta and Houston have the inside track to add a new team to the league. Houston has been interested for a while, and has an arena where the Houston Rockets play, with a deep-pocketed owner in Tilman Fertitta. Houston could enter the Central Division, and if Atlanta gets the go-ahead, they could join either the Metropolitan or Atlantic Division. From that point, the powers to be in the NHL will need to decide if further expansion is required or even desired.
The NHL has been reeling in revenue and has raised the salary cap limit to $88 million, with more increases likely. Their total revenue for the 2023-24 season was $6.3 billion. The sport is doing well and has recovered amazingly from the troubled time of the pandemic. Now, it’s time to add teams and grow the sport even more.