Houston NAHL Team Aims to Show City Readiness for NHL
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Amidst NHL expansion efforts, the NAHL Houston Bulls are looking to set a precedent for the city of Houston.
After relocating from North Iowa to Houston, the North American Hockey League team has sold out all three home games of their inaugural season in the city of Houston.
The Bulls wrapped up their home opening weekend in the fourth-most populous city in the United States with a 4-3 win over the Ogden Mustangs; which took place in front of the previously-mentioned sold out crowd at Houston's newest $40 million rink.
The increased interest in Houston's newest hockey team comes as the NHL and The Friedkin Group are currently evaluating Houston to potentially become the League's 33rd franchise.
Tyler Shaffar — the President of F&S Management Company, the management group of ownership overseeing the Houston Bulls — said the Bulls aim to show Houston's city appetite for a potential NHL team.
"There are a lot of people in the hockey community who have been working hard to grow the game in Houston and bring an NHL franchise to the city. We’re excited to be part of that process," Shaffar said in an exclusive. "Our focus is on building a successful organization, growing the fan base and showing just how passionate this market is about hockey. If the Bulls can help demonstrate the tremendous interest in hockey in Houston and contribute to bringing an NHL team here someday, that’s something we’d be incredibly proud of."
In June, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman went public with interest from CEO Dan Friedkin and co. to bring a second team into the state of Texas in either Houston or Austin. The evaluation process is ongoing, with the next opportunity for the NHL to formally update the Board of Governors on expansion to take place in December.
The newest additions to the NHL have been the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, the Seattle Kraken in 2021 and the Utah Mammoth in 2024.
Bulls players are on board with setting a tone for a potential NHL team for Houston — with many previously stating they've loved playing in the city and are seeing incredibly high support levels from the community.
"They’re itching for an NHL team. It'd be super cool because I think that we would have played a big part in getting that team here. It would just be super cool for the team to have been that stepping stone for the NHL," forward Lukas Yeck said at Tuesday's presser. "I mean, obviously the NHL is the professional league, so the fact that they're like looking at us as the guide to see if it would work is super cool."
In addition to having a metro population of over seven million, Houston is also ranked as the No. 6 media market.
As a result — ten of Houston's NAHL games are being broadcasted live on Fox 26 Houston.
Houston Bulls Paving Way for NHL Team
The term-sheet agreement with Friedkin, a well-known Houston billionare, is ongoing as of June 23 to determine the feasibility of expanding into either Austin or Houston.
Should this come to fruition, The Friedkin Group and its sporting arm of Pursuit Sports would pay an agreed-upon price of $3.5 billion in total to cover both the expansion fee (roughly $2 billion) and the cost of building a new arena ($1.5 billion).
A team in Houston (or Austin) would easily slot into the NHL's Central Division. The previously referenced Utah Mammoth are in the Central Division, alongside the Colorado Avalanche who sit near the top of the standings with 19 points as of presstime.
NAHL rookie Romain Lellouche — who scored the first goal in Houston's new rink on Oct. 17 at only 1:40 into the first period of the weekend — said that the Bulls easily prove 10 times over that Houston is ready to take the next step.
"I love it here," Lellouche said. "I especially love the people ... the fans here are also insane. I love this city. We've been sold out in our first three home games. People here love it. Hockey is back in Houston; so people are really excited to come see us play, and I feel like this is just the proving point that people love hockey in Houston."
The NHL's Board of Governors is reportedly next slated to meet on Dec. 10-11 in Florida, in which an expansion update is expected.
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Jennifer Streeter graduated with a B.A. in journalism from Texas A&M and received her Master of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. At both schools, she focused on an emphasis of sports reporting. A former athlete herself, "Jenny" was a varsity soccer player and comes from a family who participated in NCAA athletics. She has covered hockey since 2023 and is credentialed for the Seattle Kraken, New Jersey Devils and PWHL in addition to having covered the 2026 Frozen Four.