After Salt Lake City, a group from Atlanta is also raising its hand by asking the NHL to launch a new expansion process, with the aim of granting a third chance to this market.
The request, coming from the Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment (ASE) group, was made officially to the National League by open letter signed by former player Anson Carter.
“I have lived in Atlanta since 2009 and I have no doubt that the best league in the world will be successful in its return to the Atlanta metro area. The ASE Group is a hockey-focused group that will include partners Neil Leibman (Top Tier Sports), Peter Simon (Simon Sports, owner of the Halifax Mooseheads) and Aaron Zeigler (Zeigler Automobile Group), who are all hockey enthusiasts. our sport,” Carter said in a press release.
The group is also associated with the insurance giant, New York Life.
And Quebec?
For the moment, even though Quebecor has repeatedly expressed its interest in one day obtaining an NHL franchise, there is no formal request by letter that has been made to the NHL for the league to launch a process of expansion and that it considers Quebec.
It is impossible to know if it is in the plans to follow the example of Salt Lake City and Atlanta by going through a formal request.
On February 2, colleague Kevin Dubé reported according to sources that the NHL could launch a new expansion process and that Quebec risked being in the race again.
It should be remembered that the cost of an expansion team is likely to be around a billion dollars, American of course.
Last November, the CEO of Quebecor Sports and Entertainment, Martin Tremblay, mentioned that the group could be called upon to join partners.
“Would there now be groups of owners? We see it everywhere in the National League right now. The interest is there, but the way to get there could be different,” he said, although there are no new details known on this subject at present.
Under discussion since 2019
Anson Carter
AgenceQMI
Anson Carter, who scored 421 points in 674 games in the NHL between 1996 and 2007, said he has been talking with commissioner Gary Bettman since 2019 with the aim of providing Atlanta with an expansion team.
The press release also mentions that the city of Alpharetta, north of Atlanta, is the city with the largest number of players registered for minor hockey in the metropolitan region.
Atlanta benefits from the support of municipal authorities and Fulton County.
There is already a $2 billion development project, including an 18,000-seat arena, which has been in the works for several months.
“The City of Alpharetta is excited about the opportunity to host NHL hockey, one of the most exciting and thriving sporting experiences in the world,” said Mayor Jim Gilvin.
We will have to see if Atlanta will become an extremely rare city to get a third chance in the same professional circuit, after the failures of the Flames, who moved to Calgary in 1980, as well as the Thrashers, who took the road to Winnipeg in 2011.
New Thursday in Arizona
While waiting for an amphitheater project to come to fruition, the Coyotes continue to play at Mullett Arena, in front of 4,600 spectators.
AFP
While potential markets are being activated for future expansion by NHL executives, the Arizona Coyotes will find out a little more about their umpteenth amphitheater project this week.
Land the organization is eyeing in north Phoenix for construction will be surveyed by the state on Thursday.
According to 12News, that’s when the team will know if the coveted land will be publicly auctioned. If the State decides in favor of an auction, it would not take place until 10 weeks later and the minimum bid would be $68.5 million.
This is a situation that all markets interested in a club will be watching closely, in case Gary Bettman has to resolve for his worst nightmare to come true, which is a move of the Coyotes to other lands.