NHL ‘not even remotely close’ to application phase with Atlanta expansion group, league says

After a post from the X account “NHLtoAtlanta” gained steam Friday, the National Hockey League denied that one of the groups developing a project to build an arena in suburban Atlanta that could house an expansion team has “submitted a final packet for approval.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic Atlanta is “not even remotely close to an application phase” after the development team behind The Gathering in South Forsyth posted an update saying it submitted a final financing packet to the NHL for review and approval.

Although the group behind the project to build that arena continues to update the league on progress toward a bid for a franchise, the application process is formal, comprehensive and time-consuming, and none of what the group has provided forms the basis of an application.

As of now, the league is not close to the application phase with Atlanta, and regardless, any determination for or against would be made by the Board of Governors, not by the league office.

The owner of the prospective NHL team and developer behind The Gathering at South Forsyth is Atlanta businessman Vernon Krause, who has been pushing to bring hockey to Atlanta for the third time. There seems to be a race between this project and one 7 miles away in Alpharetta, Ga., though. In late August, the city council in that northeast Atlanta suburb voted 4-3 to approve the redevelopment of the North Point Mall into an entertainment district that includes an NHL-caliber arena.

Last month, Daly told The Athletic the league was on track to award a 33rd franchise to Houston or Austin, Texas, by the end of the calendar year. Billionaire Dan Friedkin’s Pursuit Sports has already agreed to pay a $2 billion expansion fee to bring a team to one of those cities, pending the ability to build an arena in one of those markets and secure final approval from the NHL’s Board of Governors.

“We’re moving forward in Texas,” Daly told The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. “I expect ultimately we’ll be in a position to bring something to the board to get their view on it. So, that’s proceeding at a pace. We’ll probably get together with the group again in September and kind of see where they are in the process and what they want us to do to help, to the extent they need anything.

“If we finalize that and the board approves it, then (at the) end of this calendar year we’ll have an announcement that we’re expanding to either Houston or Austin.”

Daly told The Athletic the NHL is also engaged in talks with groups hoping to land the 34th team. Still, it’s Friedkin’s group in Texas that hopes to debut within three years.

“They’re projecting the ability to start play in 2029-30,” Daly said. “So we will have one down and potentially one to go. We have ongoing discussions both with people in the Phoenix marketplace, but also Atlanta, and then we’ll see what comes of those discussions.”

The first phase of construction on The Gathering at South Forsyth reportedly began Tuesday.