Second Phase of NHL Expansion Bids

Proposed National Hockey League expansion teams in Las Vegas and Quebec have moved on to the second of three phases of consideration before the NHL Board of Governors decides on a potential expansion of the league.

Bill Foley, the leader of the Las Vegas effort, announced on the group’s website that the NHL had asked the bid to continue. The team would play its home games at the Las Vegas Arena under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. Quebecor, the company pushing for a team in Quebec, announced on Twitter that it, too, had been invited to proceed. The company has proposed playing home games at the 18,259-seat Videotron Centre, set to open next month.

“We are pleased to report that the NHL has invited us to participate in Phase II of the application process to secure an NHL team in Las Vegas,” Foley said. “In this phase, we will be providing the league with additional information, including information about the Las Vegas market and the MGM AEG Arena being developed between Monte Carlo and New York New York. We will also be permitted access to information provided by the league that it deems important to us. We are hopeful that at the conclusion of this phase, the league will invite us to participate in Phase III.”

If the NHL eventually approves both bids for expansion, any new teams are not expected to begin play until the 2016–2017 season.