NHL approves expansion to Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – The NHL became the first of the four major sports to bet on Las Vegas when it announced Wednesday the nation's gambling capital would be the home of the league’s 31st team starting in the 2017-18 season.

The NHL’s 10-person executive committee reviewed applications from Las Vegas and Quebec City, and recommended Las Vegas be offered an expansion team for a cost of $500 million. The league’s Board of Governors unanimously approved billionaire Bill Foley’s Las Vegas bid Wednesday morning in a meeting here, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced. The NHL has deferred the Quebec City application, citing the geographic imbalance for the league and the weakening Canadian dollar.

Former NHL player Murray Craven has been helping Foley and is expected to get a role with the team.

Two months ago, Las Vegas opened the new T Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas strip that seats 17,500 for hockey. Foley has already taken deposits on 14,500 season tickets.

NHL draft 2016: Five trade story lines to monitor

The NHL’s current alignment has 16 teams in the Eastern Conference, and only 14 Western Conference. The proximity Las Vegas has to the Arizona Coyotes, along with the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks was one of the city’s many attractions.

This is the NHL’s first expansion since 2000 when the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets were brought in.

Foley, the chairman of Fidelity National Financial, is a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He has called his new company Black Knight Sports and Entertainment as a tribute to his West Point roots. However, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in February he planned on being open-minded on the name of the team and may allow his original season ticket holders to vote on it.