Gary Bettman makes huge decision on NHL expansion

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Axel Williams
October 2, 2024 (10:40)

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Gary Bettman and the NHL have been hard at work recently as they try to find new and interesting ways to enhance the league and make more money for its teams.

One way to do this is through expansion. Despite the league's repeated expansion efforts over the last few years, there has been a discussion about adding two more teams to the NHL. They would put these teams in cities like Houston and Atlanta. Overall, it is an interesting proposition, but it's not going to happen anytime soon.

According to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, Bettman has put a stop to expansion talks, noting that it isn't even at the top of their minds right now.

«We feel no compulsion to do it right now,» Bettman said. «We just came off our most successful season in our history, we've got collective bargaining to deal with, we've got new media arrangements to do in Canada in the next couple of years. If something came in and checked all the boxes, and we felt that it might make sense, we might consider it. But we're not there right now, and it seems like everybody is, on the one hand, pushing us with, �Why don't you expand,' and at the same time saying, �Why would you expand?' So, it's not a front-burner topic right now.»

This is a pretty declarative statement and shows that the NHL isn't exactly interested in making any brash decisions right now. As they shouldn't. 32 teams is enough, and we're sure the vast majority of hockey fans would agree with that.

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Source: Sportsnet
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