The NHL is now negotiating with a third distinct ownership group seeking an expansion franchise in Atlanta, Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed Tuesday. The disclosure marks the clearest signal yet that the league views a return to Georgia—despite two prior failures—as a near-term revenue catalyst, not a long-term curiosity.
Bettman declined to name the group or attach a timeline but said the conversations are "substantive" and involve "credible ownership with arena certainty." The NHL has fielded at least two other Atlanta proposals in the past eighteen months. One involved Kraken minority owner Alex Meruelo pivoting capital from a stalled Phoenix effort; another centered on a private-equity consortium with ties to State Farm Arena operator Live Nation. Neither advanced past preliminary diligence. This third group, according to two people briefed on the structure, includes at least one billionaire with existing North American sports assets and a commitment to hold the franchise privately for a minimum of seven years. The league wants $1.3B per seat for the next expansion cycle, up from the $650M Seattle paid in 2021.
The NHL left Atlanta twice. The Flames departed for Calgary in 1980 after eight seasons of poor attendance and ownership instability. The Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg in 2011 after averaging 13,469 fans per game—26th of 30 clubs—and accumulating losses ownership attributed to a fractured arena partnership with the NBA Hawks. Both exits traced to governance, not demand: Atlanta ranks 8th in U.S. metro population, added 680,000 residents since 2010, and sits in a state where youth hockey participation rose 74% over the past decade, per USA Hockey registration data. The region now supports 22 ice facilities, up from 11 in 2011.
What matters here is the option value the league is assembling. Bettman has repeatedly said expansion is "not on the front burner" while Arizona sorts its arena situation and the Houston market waits for Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta to make a formal bid. But Atlanta gives the NHL a third credible expansion candidate—alongside Houston and a potential second Toronto-area club—if the board decides to move to 36 teams before the next media-rights cycle begins in 2028. The math is straightforward: three franchises at $1.3B each delivers $3.9B in one-time expansion fees, split evenly among existing owners. That is $121.9M per club, roughly the annual payroll floor, without diluting national broadcast revenue or requiring new arenas.
The Atlanta group's arena plan remains the variable. State Farm Arena, renovated in 2018 for $250M, seats 18,047 for hockey and is controlled by a Hawks ownership group that has shown no public interest in splitting tenancy. Two suburban sites—one in Forsyth County near the convergence of I-85 and GA-400, another in Gwinnett County along I-85—have been discussed in prior proposals. The league prefers urban or dense-suburban locations within 25 minutes of downtown, per expansion guidelines used in Seattle and Vegas. Forsyth checks that box; Gwinnett does not.
What to watch: The league's Board of Governors meets in June in New York. If the third Atlanta group submits a formal application by then, expansion could be on the agenda for a preliminary vote by December. Separately, Fertitta is expected to clarify his Houston timeline in Q2, after the Rockets' lease at Toyota Center comes up for extension talks. A competing Atlanta bid from the Meruelo-backed group is still technically alive, though two people close to those discussions said momentum has stalled.
The NHL is not returning to Atlanta because it loves Atlanta. It is returning because the expansion fee is now large enough to compensate ownership for two decades of poor execution, and because the alternative—waiting for a perfect market—means leaving $3.9B on the table while player costs rise 5% annually.
The takeaway
NHL now vetting third Atlanta ownership group with arena certainty, signaling **$1.3B** expansion path ahead of 2028 media cycle.
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