Per AP source, Las Vegas expansion is a “done deal” following the recommendation of the league’s executive committee which met last week in NY. Quebec was the other city reportedly considered during expansion talks.
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Las Vegas is the largest metropolitan area without a professional sports team and concerns over corruption related to the city’s gambling industry have largely vanished.
The NHL has made a decision to expand to just a single city, and that city will be Las Vegas, according to an AP report.
The Las Vegas bid has already secured more than 13, 200 season ticket deposits for a potential team.
The AP’s source was anonymous, because the NHL’s official announcement isn’t expected to come until June 22, just before the annual NHL Awards, fortuitously held in Las Vegas. It was expected that both teams would be admitted because it would mean an even number of teams but historically, the National Hockey League has often had an uneven number of teams.
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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had proposed an expansion fee of $500 million, a significant jump from the $80 million paid by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild, when the NHL last expanded to 30 teams in 2000.
