Commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking on Monday before the playoff game in Winnipeg, said he’s keeping an eye on the season-ticket sales drive in Las Vegas and confirmed that the league will discuss expansion in June.
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“I know there’s been a lot of speculation about it. What I’m hearing is the season-ticket drive has gone, and is going, extraordinarily well,” Bettman said while attending Winnipeg’s first Stanley Cup playoff home game in 19 years, ESPN.com reported. “When we get to the board meeting in June, I will report to the board as to where things stand, based on the expressions of interest, and we’ll figure out then what, if anything, we want to do.”
Potential Vegas owner Bill Foley has been running the season-ticket drive since Feb. 10 to gauge the viability of the market. His stated goals: gather 10,000 commitments from everyday people and land a franchise that would begin playing in 2016-17 after a new arena is completed on the Strip.
Asked directly if Foley had reached 10,000 commitments, Bettman on Monday said: “I’m not commenting on the count. Ultimately that will be for him at the appropriate time, but he’s doing well — very well.”
