Report: American billionaire Dan Friedkin hoping to land Houston NHL expansion team

If Dan Friedkin has his way, he’ll soon to be saying, “Houston, we have a hockey team.”

According to a report by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the Texas-based billionaire has met with the NHL on multiple occasions to express his interest in bringing an expansion franchise to Houston.

In recent years, Friedkin has begun to build a sports franchise portfolio, first acquiring the Italian soccer club AS Roma in 2020 and last year becoming the majority owner of the Premier League’s Everton FC.

Houston is currently the fourth-largest American population center and largest without a hockey team. While Houston is not currently home to the NHL, the city has a hockey history, including the WHA’s Houston Aeros from 1972-78 and a former IHL and AHL squad by the same moniker from 1994 to 2013. Houston has also previously surfaced as a possible NHL market following expressions of interest from Tilman Fertitta, owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets.

In recent weeks, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has shared that while the league has not opened a formal expansion process, it continues to receive interest from potential markets. Atlanta is among those possibilities, where a group led by NHL on TNT broadcaster and former NHLer Anson Carter hopes to return the NHL to the Georgia capital. The NHL has twice called Atlanta home, most recently from 1999 to 2011 prior to the Thrashers’ relocation to Winnipeg. The Atlanta Flames also took to the ice from 1972-80 before later uprooting to Calgary.

The NHL last expanded in 2021 with the introduction of the Seattle Kraken, four years after the league announced its 31st team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Last January, Salt Lake City-based billionaire Ryan Smith announced his interest in bringing an expansion team to Utah, however three months later he brokered a deal for the Arizona Coyotes, now known as the Utah Hockey Club.