Vegas, Quebec City take step toward expansion

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly joined Prime Time Sports to talk about potential expansion in the league, and what makes Las Vegas such a unique market.

The bids for NHL teams in Quebec City and Las Vegas are progressing to the next stage of the expansion process.

Quebecor Media vice-president of public affairs Martin Tremblay confirmed in a telephone interview Wednesday that the group overseeing the Quebec City bid has received an invitation from the league to participate in the second phase of the process.

Tremblay refused to give any other details.

Bill Foley, who leads the Las Vegas bid, confirmed in a statement that his group has also been invited to participate in Phase 2.

Foley said in a statement that the next phase involves providing the NHL with additional information about the Las Vegas market and the new arena being built on the famous Las Vegas Strip.

The Quebec City and Las Vegas bids are the only two currently in the running, as they were the only groups to submit expansion applications before last month’s deadline.

Both bids are bolstered by new arenas.

Quebecor manages the Videotron Centre, which opened this year. Las Vegas’s arena is expected to be finished in 2016.

A franchise is expected to cost upwards of US$500 million. The application fee was $10 million, with $2 million non-refundable.

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