Las Vegas, Quebec City advance in NHL expansion quest

Las Vegas and Quebec City, the only cities to submit $10 million (9.1 million euros) application fees to the National Hockey League for expansion teams, have been invited to move to the next phase in the process.

The Las Vegas group released a statement confirming their move to the second phase by the NHL while multiple Canadian reports said Quebec City received the same invitation on Wednesday.

"We are pleased to report that the NHL has invited us to participate in Phase II of the application process," the Vegas Wants Hockey statement said. "In this phase, we will be providing the league with additional information requested by it, including information about the Las Vegas market.

"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."

The Las Vegas team, which would be owned by Bill Foley and the Maloof family that once owned the NBA Sacramento Kings, would be the first major sports league franchise to play in the US gambling mecca and use a new $375 million arena with 17,500 seats that is set to open next April.

New teams, if approved, are expected to start play in the 2017-18 campaign and pay the NHL a hefty fee to become the circuit's 31st and 32nd clubs -- matching the NFL for the most teams of any major North American sports league.

Both groups submitted applications last month. Quebec City had been a hotbed when the former NHL Nordiques, now the Colorado Avalanche, played there. Las Vegas had more than 13,500 deposits for season tickets in a drive last february.

The NHL Board of Governors meets next month ahead of the start of the new season in October.
Source: AFP