Fertitta interested in bringing NHL and WNBA teams to Houston
Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Golden Nugget casino empire, is interested in bringing NHL and WNBA franchises to Houston, where he already owns the NBA Rockets.
In an interview with Bloomberg in February, Fertitta said he was in talks with the NHL about the possibility of bringing a team to the nation's fourth-largest city, noting those discussions had become more serious recently.
We want to build an NHL team in Houston — I’m working on that,” he told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.
Fertitta's interest in bringing an NHL franchise to Houston dates back to 2017, when he purchased the Rockets for $2.2 billion. The Houston Eros are a minor league hockey team that occasionally calls the city to play at the Toyota Center. This is the home court of the Rockets. The venue offers 19,000 seats for basketball games and can accommodate 17,800 fans when expanded into a hockey arena.
The billionaire businessman said he is open to expanding an NHL franchise or moving an existing team from another city to Houston, which is currently the largest U.S. city without an NHL team. The league has no upcoming expansion plans, but the Arizona Coyotes' fate in Phoenix is uncertain amid controversy over providing the team with a new arena. However, the Coyotes could move to Salt Lake City as early as next season.
Expanding sports participation is not Fertitta’s first attempt
The effort to bring NHL and WNBA teams to Houston isn't the first time Fertitta has expanded his sports ownership portfolio beyond the Rockets.
Last year, he offered $5.6 billion to buy the NFL's Washington Commanders, but dropped out of the running for the team after a bidding war raised the price to $6 billion. At the time, he said he offered $5.6 billion because that's how Forbes valued the team, adding that $6 billion wasn't a fair price.
NHL teams are significantly less expensive than NFL teams. The NHL's newest team, the Seattle Kraken, had a market capitalization of $1.22 billion at the end of last year, according to Forbes. The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights are the second-youngest team in the league and are worth an estimated $1.12 billion.
The most valuable NHL team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, worth $2.8 billion, according to Forbes.
WNBA Interests
Fertitta also expressed interest in the WNBA returning to Houston. The city was home to the Comets (the WNBA's first dynasty) from 1997 to 2008, before the league folded the team.
"I'm definitely thinking about it, and I think talking about WNBA teams in Houston is a great topic in women's sports as well," Fertitta said in a CNBC interview.
His Fertitta Entertainment Inc. (FEI) controls the Landry's restaurant empire and the Golden Nugget Casino. The group has more than 600 restaurants under brands including Bubba Gump's, Chart House, Del Frisco's, Mastro's and Morton's, among others.
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Source: www.casino.org
