Friedman on NHL expansion to Las Vegas

Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 590 Friday morning.

On the possibility of NHL expansion to Las Vegas:

“Well, I think the story was taken to a bit of another level yesterday. The Chief Financial Officer of MGM, which is building that rink in Vegas, was quoted in one of the Vegas papers as saying, ‘We are interested, and we’ve had conversations with a group.’

“And that group is believed to be led by a guy named William Foley, who’s got a contact in Vegas who’s actually the commissioner’s half-brother.

“So it’s not coming right out and saying there’s going to be a team there, but I think it’s interesting that the people building the rink have talked about a conversation with a group that will probably take this discussion a bit higher.”

Source: Sportsnet 590/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

Friedman was also on Sportsnet 960 later Friday morning.

On Vegas expansion:

"I do believe that there is some - I do believe that they've talked about it. I think the guy's telling the truth.

"I think the thing the league is most curious about here - or the thing they want to defend the most - they just don't like the fact that Phoenix gets tied to it. They have enough of a problem making things work with the Coyotes financially that they don't want their fan base to be saying, 'Oh, well, they're gone in four years.' So I really believe that's one of the reasons the league rushes so hard to put the fire out on it.

"But I think there would be a lot of buzz for a team that would go into Vegas first. I think it's the kind of thing the NHL would love to be ahead of. There's a tie-in there that one of the guys who is kind of loosely aligned with this group is Gary Bettman's half-brother. So there's a lot of smoke there. 

"I think one of the reasons the league really tries to throw a lot of cold water on it is because it doesn't help the image of the Coyotes locally and that's one of the things they really try to do to say this is pure fantasy."

On if, in his opinion, this can work in Las Vegas long-term:

"The one thing that I believe about the league is that they do a lot of their research into this. They've done a lot of research into Seattle and they believe that will work. I mean, I've met a lot of people that say they worry that Seattle has too many teams for an NHL club. Because that's a place where MLS is very successful, for example, that they worry about it from the NHL's point of view. 

"They are convinced that Vegas can make it work from a high-roller, giving out tickets, people passing through, casinos are late-night kind of things. I do believe they've done enough research. They would not be interested in going in there if their research wasn't telling them that it can make it work. 

"And I believe, and there's a lot of other people who believe, that Vegas is an untapped market. So if they are really trying to go in there, there's a reason they believe it can work. The one thing I always say is the research they do is much deeper than the research that we do. And if there's somebody telling them or if their research tells them it can work - you know what Dean? Then they're going to do everything they can to give it a shot."