Bettman says league will consider Seattle expansion bid

The NHL is opening its doors to Seattle.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday the league’s board of governors have agreed to consider an expansion application from billionaire David Bonderman and filmmaker Jerry Bruckheimer to bring a franchise to the city.

“We don’t just say, ‘It would be a good idea to expand, let’s do that,”’ Bettman told reporters assembled at the posh Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. “We do our homework, we evaluate it, we examine all of the aspects.

“Expansion is a very, very important business decision, and you want to get it right.”

Bettman said the fee has been set at US$650 million for Seattle — which would be the NHL’S 32nd team — up from the $500 million Las Vegas paid to join the league in 2016.

“We’re a little familiar with the city, but the level of due diligence that we will do is something the expansion process contemplates,” he said.

“From everything I know viscerally, I think it will be a good market ... I think the rivalry with Vancouver as a potential would be nice.

“It’s an intriguing possibility, but we’ve got homework to do.”

Seattle plans to have the aging Keyarena renovated by 2020 with the goal of luring an NHL or NBA team.

“Evaluating the market, the arena, the ownership, the impact on the league is something that we’ll go through,” said Bettman. “The board will ultimately make a decision.”

Bettman added Seattle is the only market being considered for expansion at the moment, which means an NHL team won’t be playing in Quebec City’s Videotron Centre in the foreseeable future.

The league deferred its decision on Quebec City’s expansion bid when awarding a franchise to Las Vegas. The Nordiques left town for Colorado in 1995.

“I don’t think today’s events have any impact on Quebec City,” said deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “If I wanted to be positive, I’d say one of the things we kept harping on is we need another team in the (Western Conference) before we consider expanding in the East.”

Las Vegas was permitted to start a ticket drive in December 2014 before allowing prospective owner Bill Foley to apply for an expansion franchise six months later, meaning that the process has been sped up for the Seattle group.