NHL Expansion Essay

From the beginning of the National Hockey League or NHL in 1917, the 1967 Expansion became of the most notable events for the league. Before the expansion, the NHL consisted of six teams known as the “Original Six”. After the decision to expand, the cities who represented the NHL included Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Minneapolis North Stars. Each new team was required to pay a fee of two-million dollars to one of the existing franchises. Although St. Louis was chosen to be apart of the expansion, the city of St. Louis was the only franchise without a party to claim ownership (Bass n.pag.). With great reason and motivation, the NHL expanded from six to twelve teams to prove

Specifically, the league contemplated the motives against the league expansion. Before the expansion, the league considered the drastic increase of expenses, which included travel costs. Since the teams ranged from coast to coast in America, one of the main costs measured was higher costs of travel. Therefore, the league had to consider new, expensive costs for each team to compete in regular season and playoff games. In the 1963-64 season, the league realized the increase in popularity, which the league officially capitalized on the expansion opportunity in 1967. In comparison, the underlying reason for the expansion was the league’s anticipation of the popularity among fans. The league’s motivation to expand comprised of the idea of increasing revenue and possibly gaining a television contract (Bass n. pag.) As well as the rapid growth of the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball at the time, fueled the National Hockey League’s decision. Since the other sports leagues previously established their presence in California, two teams sprung out of the Los Angeles and Oakland area (Associated Press n.pag.). All in all, the NHL decides to expand to comply with the desires from fans, increase revenue, as well as compete with other sports

After the announcement of the NHL expanding the league, there was a total of twelve cities interested in hosting a hockey team. Even with the interest of twelve cities, only six cities were granted a team to compete within the league. These cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis. With each city being granted an expansion team, a two-million-dollar fee was required to be paid to one of the existing leagues. This fee was paid to the existing teams because the new teams acquired players from the existing franchises. Although at the time, the city of St. Louis did not have a person or party to undertake the franchise. Consequently, the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, James Norris Jr., who owned an arena in St. Louis met the requirements for the NHL. Norris is granted ownership of the expansion team within St. Louis (Cole n.pag.). Due to overwhelming interest, the NHL increases to a total of twelve teams, who competed in the 1967-68