If Las Vegas is to support an NHL franchise, it won't be on the backs on tourists - according to potential owner Bill Foley, who plans to bring the city its first major sports franchise.

"I don't want to see everyone in the stands with a Canucks jersey on," Foley said in an interview with ESPN's Scott Burnside on Thursday. "I'm not trying to promote the Red Wings."

Foley, a former mortgage financier, added that an NHL franchise would receive help from the city's extensive number of tourists but the goal will be to attract locals to the arena.

"We know that we're going to get great casino support," Foley told Burnside. "But I want the guy that lives in Henderson (located just outside of Las Vegas), I want him to be there."

The future of a potential franchise will receive a major test in the coming months with a season ticket-drive led by Foley and a possible blessing from the NHL.

Foley has a two-part plan for drumming up interest from locals. The first is contacting citizens and businesses to express their formal interest in a professional hockey team and then asking those who expressed interest for a form of financial commitment to season tickets.

Foley will meet with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly next week to discuss and finalize plans for his ticket drive. The league endorsed a trial drive earlier this week at its annual December meetings.

Foley and the Maloof family have been working on plans for a Las Vegas-based franchise over the past 15 months. He notes that though progress has been made, he and his partners have to provide proof the city could support a franchise.

"We've made good progress, but the reality is that Las Vegas is an unproven market," Foley told ESPN.

Foley, at the very least, has the support of The Great One. "He's a wonderful man," Wayne Gretzky told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun. "He would be a great owner if he gets a team. He loves hockey and he loves sports. He would be unreal.

"It would be good for hockey if he gets the team. He loves the game."

Foley is nearing a lease agreement with the builders of the currently in construction $350 million venue being built by MGM Resorts International and AEG. The arena is set to hold a capacity of 20,000, though the official seating chart is yet to be completed.