Thank The Rockets?

The man to the left is Tilman Fertitta who is expected to be the eventual owner of an NHL team in Houston if the NHL ever decides to announce another wave of expansion. Fertitta is a very rich man who owns the NBA's Houston Rockets and the Toyota Center in downtown Houston, and we know that arena owners make money when teams and concerts visit those arenas. Fertitta seems to be in this mindset as he has said in the past that he's working on bringing an NHL team to Houston, so it seems like it's only a matter of time before the NHL finally gives the billionaire an expansion franchise in one of the US's largest markets. But it should be noted that the NHL has flirted with Houston before abut putting a team in the city, going back as far as 1989 when interested parties were contacting the NHL about expanding to Houston.

I was looking for some information on a different story when I came across this news snippet from the Brandon Sun on Ocotber 21, 1989.

For those wondering who Charlie Thomas was, he was a businessman in Houston who purchased the NBA's Houston Rockets in 1982 for $11 million from the Maloof family before selling the Rockets in 1993 for $85 million. At the time of the purchase of the Rockets, Thomas owned a Ford dealership and sat as the board chairman of Great Southwest Bank. While there was no tallying of his fortune in the linked article, one had to figure he was aware of the $50 million expansion fee that the NHL charged in 1990.

Thomas reportedly formally applied for an expansion franchise, and it seems he was aiming for one of the expansion franchise opportunities that were eventually awarded to Ottawa and Tampa Bay in 1990. The NHL confirmed that Thomas had submitted "an application, which included a $10,000 deposit," and was one of ten applications received by the NHL office. The other cities reportedly interested in the expansion opportunity included Seattle, Milwaukee, Ottawa, Hamilton, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Phoenix, San Diego, and Miami.

Of course, one of the criteria that the NHL takes into account is ownership stability, and the linked article above noted that Thomas "reportedly has been having financial problems in his business dealing, which could be behind his willingness to sell his successful NBA franchise." That kind of report likely would have a negative impact on his expansion application, and it may be why Houston was eliminated from the competition in 1990. I can't say for certain as the NHL doesn't reveal that information, but shaky ownership would be a key reason not to grant an expansion franchise.

At the end of the day, we know the Houston application for expansion failed as Ottawa and Tampa were named as the two cities who would join the NHL in 1991-92, and Houston is still waiting. Of that list, it's interesting to see that all of Seattle, Phoenix, and Miami were interested in 1990 in joining the NHL as all of those markets would eventually land teams in some fashion.

In any case, it seems like NHL expansion into Houston was and has always been tied to the NBA's Houston Rockets thanks to them being the main tenants at the Toyota Center. As seen in 1989, the owner of the Houston Rockets made a bid for an expansion team, and, in 2024, it seems that the owner of the Houston Rockets is working on the same thing 35 years later. I can't say whether Tilman Fertitta will be successful, but, with teams already in half of the locations who applied in 1990, his application looks better and better.

NHL hockey in Houston? It only took 35 years to happen.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!