Houston Sports: The three best options for landing an NHL team in Houston
By T.A. Mock
It’s been a long time since hockey has resided in Houston. However, a movement is building and the NHL is noticing. Here are the three best options to add hockey to Houston sports.
Houston sports has had three major sports teams for nearly two decades. The Houston Texans inaugural season was in 2002. The Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets have been here much longer than that. The Dynamo and Dash have also been added to that. However, now may be the time to another team to the Houston sports professional ranks.
The last time Houston sports had a hockey team was when the Aeros called the Bayou City home. The Aeros were an International Hockey League (IHL) expansion team back in 1994. The IHL folded after the 2000 season and the Aeros were one of six teams to join the American Hockey League (AHL) for the 2001 season.
The Aeros hung around as a Houston sports fixture from their first season in 1994 through the end of the 2012-2013 season. They called the Compaq Center home for a while before eventually moving to the Toyota Center. Unfortunately, the ownership couldn’t renew the lease on the Toyota center and the Aeros moved from Houston to Iowa.
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While in Houston, the Aeros had winning seasons in 16 of their 19 years. They were first in their division two times and ended up winning the finals of their league both of those years. They made the finals one other year but lost and only missed the playoffs three times.
The Aeros never averaged fewer than 5,000 attendees per game and maxed out over 7,000 a few times. Their last two seasons were also their highest per game attendance years in team history in Houston.
These are by no means extremely high numbers as the Toyota Center can hold 17,800 people for a hockey game but the growing numbers are promising. Plus, an NHL team would immediately attract more people to games. Houston has interest and so does the NHL. This has always supported teams well so, let’s take a look at the three best options for Houston to gain an NHL team.