Houston has been passed over a number of times by the NHL.
It appears that Houston, Texas resident Dan Friedkin, who is the Owner and CEO of Gulf States Toyota as well as being a film producer and owner of the Liverpool, England-based Everton football club and AS Roma in Rome, Italy wants a National Hockey League franchise. Friedkin has started a sports business called Pursuit Sports. The sports group will manage the European football franchises and will also pursue buying a team in one of North America’s “Big 4” sports leagues that includes Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. Friedkin came up short in trying to buy into the NBA’s Boston Celtics business. Right now, the only MLB franchise that might be available is the Minnesota Twins business as the Tampa Bay Rays franchise is about to be sold. The NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers franchise is available, there is nothing available in the NFL but there could be an expansion franchise available in Friedkin’s hometown, Houston. The NHL and Women’s National Basketball Association have no Houston presence. Friedkin might need to build an arena to get the NHL’s attention.
Houston is the United States’ biggest TV market and one of the two in the top 10 TV markets without an NHL franchise. The Atlanta area is seventh and there are people in the Atlanta market who want an NHL franchise. In the 1970s, when the World Hockey Association had a franchise in the city called the Aeros, that featured Gordie Howe, there seemed to be some talk about Houston landing an NHL franchise in some sort of merger but the franchise folded in 1978. A couple of Houston groups made presentations in the 1997 round of expansion, but the NHL was not interested. Friedkin may go after an NHL expansion franchise.
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