Reason #2: The Concepts of Market Saturation and the ‘Untapped Market’

Another key reason as to why Houston would be a smart choice for the NHL to expand is due to its reputation as an untapped hockey market. As seen by their ambitious decision to expand to Las Vegas, the NHL wants to promote the sport of hockey to underserved and unexplored markets while simultaneously nurturing its existing fanbase. This is where Houston comes into play. Between regional patterns in geography and the fact that Houston has never had an NHL team, it’s understandable to see why hockey isn’t very popular within the region. A large contingent of Houstonians have never experienced the fun that is a hockey game, either due to the absence of a local team (from 2013 to now) and/or due to the old Aeros’ status as a minor-league team resulting in less media coverage.

With the presence of an NHL team in Houston, all of that could change. Fans would be able to root for yet another Houston professional sports team and possibly discover a passion for a sport they would’ve never thought that they would’ve had a passion for. If anything else, Houston residents wouldn’t have to make the four-hour drive up to Dallas in order to see an NHL game in person. The popularity of a team in Houston could help the NHL as well, as they could receive an influx of new fans willing to invest money in the league through tickets to games, television packages, purchasing official team and league merchandise, and other meaningful methods (see reason #1 above). The economic principle of market-saturation is also something to keep in mind. Seattle and Québec City have a higher percentage of hockey fans nestled within their city limits compared to Houston; as a result, there is less potential for new fans — something that the NHL clamors for in this day and age. Plus, there are higher percentages of Québécois Canadiens fans and Seattleite Canucks fans than Houstonian Stars fans; while this may be due to hockey’s relative unpopularity in Houston, it’s also due to the fact that Dallas is farther away from Houston than Montréal is from Québec City and Vancouver is from Seattle, as well as the fact that many Houstonians cannot bring themselves to ever support a Dallas sports team.

Houston isn’t just an untapped hockey market in the sense of gaining more viewers — it’s also an untapped market in terms of how many people actively play the sport within the region. Unlike the two other expansion candidate cities — Seattle and Québec City — playing hockey has a much lower prestige in Houston compared to other major sports. This could be attributed to a number of variables — the city’s geography, the few regulation-size rinks in the area (one for every 1.65 million Houstonians), and the lack of a local professional team to conjure support and expose the sport. One of the ways that the sport could gain some traction within the region is if a local team were to come in and invest money into local programs and initiatives backing participation in local hockey leagues. Look at the evolution of hockey within Dallas — the sport was an afterthought before the Stars moved from Minnesota, but is now one of the most popular sports to play and watch in the city thanks to tireless investing and advertising by the Stars. If the NHL wants to keep to its word and focus their efforts on exposing the sport to unexplored markets, then they should expand to Houston.