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Friedkin's site diligence in Travis County moves Austin ahead of Houston in visible NHL expansion steps, with formal bids likely by June.
2023
and Moody Center
200-plus
nights annually for University of Texas basketball and Live…
41
Rockets games and infrastructure for ice installation
18 miles
east of downtown
The Friedkin Group, owner of AS Roma and a portfolio that includes Gulf States Toyota and a majority stake in Everton FC, is evaluating a Travis County location for an NHL expansion franchise as Austin and Houston compete for what would be the league's 33rd team. The site selection moves the automotive-and-sports conglomerate past preliminary talks and into real estate diligence, a threshold that typically precedes formal expansion applications by six to nine months.
Austin lacks an NHL-caliber arena. The Frank Erwin Center was demolished in 2023, and Moody Center, which opened that same year, books 200-plus nights annually for University of Texas basketball and Live Nation concerts under a contract that leaves minimal ice dates. Houston's Toyota Center, by contrast, already hosts 41 Rockets games and infrastructure for ice installation, though Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has not publicly committed to sharing tenant revenue with an NHL operator. The Friedkin Group's Travis County focus suggests either a greenfield build or a partnership with Circuit of the Americas, whose owner Bobby Epstein has floated a mixed-use development adjacent to the Formula 1 facility 18 miles east of downtown.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters in December that expansion talks remain "ongoing" with interested parties but declined to name cities. The league has not added a team since Seattle's $650M expansion fee in 2021. Arizona's relocation to Utah this past April—a move that delivered the Smith Entertainment Group a franchise for $1.2B—reset valuation expectations. Austin's metro population of 2.4 million trails Houston's 7.5 million, but the city's corporate density (Tesla, Oracle, Apple campuses) and lack of a Big Four winter tenant appeal to league strategists modeling premium seating and sponsorship upside. Houston splits that inventory across the Rockets and Texans; Austin would hand it all to hockey.
The Friedkin family's net worth is estimated north of $6.8B, anchored by Gulf States Toyota's distribution rights across Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. That geographic footprint overlaps neatly with the NHL's desired Southern expansion corridor, which already includes Dallas, Nashville, Tampa, and Florida. AS Roma, purchased for $591M in 2020, has been a laboratory for the group's sports operating model: heavy investment in youth academies, data infrastructure, and multi-year kit deals (New Balance, $42M over six seasons). Everton, acquired for $784M in 2024, is mid-construction on a $643M waterfront stadium in Liverpool, signaling comfort with large-scale venue projects.
The timeline now hinges on three variables. First, whether the Friedkin Group submits a formal expansion application before the NHL's Board of Governors meeting in June, which would trigger a 90-day review window. Second, whether Houston counters with a Fertitta-backed bid that includes a renovated Toyota Center and a naming-rights deal to offset the $150M-$200M retrofit cost. Third, whether the league prioritizes market size or checks Houston's box first, then opens a second expansion round for Austin 18-24 months later. The Arizona relocation proved the NHL will move quickly when an ownership group and a building align.
Friedkin's Travis County site work tells sponsors and arena operators that this is not a courtesy conversation. The group has already hired Austin-based law firm Armbrust & Brown, which led permitting for the Samsung and Tesla campuses, and met with Travis County commissioners twice in the past 90 days. The next visible step is an architect rendering or a land purchase filing, both of which would appear in county records within weeks if the group is moving toward a formal bid. Houston, meanwhile, has been quiet since Fertitta's November comments to Houston Chronicle that he was "open" to NHL discussions. Open is not the same as advancing.
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