AstroWorld Emerges as Potential NHL Hockey Arena Site

HOUSTON – (By Ivy McLemore for Realty News Report) – Could the NHL soon drop pucks where the Bamboo Shoot, Alpine Sleigh Ride, and Texas Cyclone once made lasting childhood memories for generations of Houstonians?

Several recent developments point to that distinct possibility.

Two major announcements made 24 hours apart last month could foreshadow some of the land once occupied by AstroWorld used as the eventual arena site for the National Hockey League’s next expansion team.

On June 23, the NHL announced it had started a six-month evaluation process with Houston billionaire Dan Friedkin and his global sports platform Pursuit Sports to determine whether the league’s 33rd franchise would be awarded to Houston or Austin.

The next day, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo revealed plans for a new $300 million facility on Highway 288, a couple of miles from the 102-acre site it owns on the south side of Loop 610 – acreage that once was the home of the AstroWorld theme park.

The timing of those announcements could be more than sheer coincidence.

The NHL’s six core criteria for expansion franchises are ownership strength, arena certainty, market quality, media value, sponsorship depth, and the ability to increase league-wide enterprise value.

Houston has a substantial edge over Austin in each of the last four. Ownership strength is a tie since Friedkin will own the team regardless of location.

That leaves “arena certainty” as somewhat of an oxymoron for both cities.

Austin Unlikely

First, let’s clarify several reasons Austin is nothing more than a bargaining chip in ongoing discussions that will result in Houston being home to the NHL’s newest team.

Unlike Houston and the Toyota Center, Austin does not have a temporary arena suitable for NHL play. The league became a media piñata when it let the Arizona Coyotes play in Mulletta Arena, a 5,000-seat college facility while waiting for an arena that was never built. The NHL won’t let that mistake happen again.
Even if Austin could surmount that obstacle, the proposed Dog’s Head site near the banks of the Colorado River can’t accommodate the start of arena construction for years. Then there’s a litany of expected challenges from environmentalists and contentious tax abatement issues to overcome. The NHL doesn’t want to delay an expansion fee payday of $62.5 million for each of its 32 owners. Expansion fees are not shared with the NHLPA.
Austin, per 2025 estimates, is the nation’s 25th largest metro area with a tech-heavy economic base. Houston is 5th and soon to become the nation’s third most populous city with a diversified economic engine powered by oil, space exploration, and the world’s largest medical center.
The NHL’s next U.S. national media rights contracts are estimated to reach between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion annually, a 75% to 125% increase over the current $625 million annual average value (AAV) shared by ESPN and TNT Sports. Houston’s metro area has 5.3 million more people than Austin’s and is the largest without an NHL franchise.
Friedkin and the NHL have been in serious talks for years about what must be done for Houston to get an expansion franchise. You don’t agree to pay a record $2 billion expansion fee and commit an additional $1.5 million to arena construction without a solid plan already in place.

Austin entered the picture on June 23 and the Rodeo made headlines the next day.

That’s when things became interesting.

The Icebreaker that Transformed the Property Game South of Loop 610

In 2018, the Rodeo said it would build a similar concept on the AstroWorld site to what it announced on June 24, 2026, for development on its Highway 288 at Reed Road property.

The Rodeo has changed its plans. It undoubtedly wants to steer clear of the upcoming $1.4 billion renovation planned for NRG Stadium and no longer needs to wait for an on-site replacement for NRG Arena. Either the former AstroWorld site or land now occupied by the decrepit NRG Arena could become home to Houston’s NHL expansion team.

The Rodeo also will never approve any repurposing of the 61-year-old Astrodome, putting the Dome’s future in serious jeopardy, despite its historic recognitions.

The NHL would not have made its expansion announcement had it not been satisfied Friedkin and his sports group was nearing the finish line in Houston.

The ramifications of the Rodeo’s announcement loom large. By building a new facility away from the AstroWorld site, the Rodeo could sell 30 acres to sufficiently accommodate the NHL’s Houston plans for an arena, parking, and entertainment zone with close proximity to Houston’s METRORail Red Line. AstroWorld shut down in 2005 and the Rodeo later paid approximately $100 million for all 102 acres, which are bounded by Loop 610, Kirby Drive, Fannin and West Bellfort streets. A pedestrian bridge over the freeway provides access the county-owned, 350-acre NRG Park and stadium.

A Future Headline? … ‘Populous Architecture Firm Designs 18,000-Seat Hockey Arena for AstroWorld Site’ … Maybe

Populous, a Kansas City-based architecture firm that specializes in stadiums and arenas, will handle design for the Rodeo’s new facility of Highway 288, which will ease some of the parking needs on the current AstroWorld site. Populous is likely to do the same for Houston’s new NHL arena.

Once Houston achieves arena certainty, the NHL’s Board of Governors will green-light expansion for the 2028-29 season. That will be the first season under the NHL’s next TV deal with ESPN and TNT and include Houston’s 7.9 million metro population as a ratings sweetener.

Construction of the arena – expected to have about 18,000 seats and a number of luxury suites – should take two years from the groundbreaking, meaning the new arena could be ready for the 2029-30 season.

Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has said Houston’s expansion team could play at Toyota Center in downtown Houston until a new hockey arena is ready, and the 2028-29 NHL season will begin months after the reimagined Toyota Center plays host to the 2028 Republican National Convention.

There has been much speculation that Houston’s new NHL arena would be built at least 30 miles from the Toyota Center.

Here’s why that won’t happen.

How many of the NHL’s 32 franchises are located even 20 or more miles from the nearest central business district? Only one – the Florida Panthers. South Florida traffic is a mess. But Houston’s rush-hour traffic is legendary because of its large land area and mass transit is generally an afterthought.

The NHL had to move its Arizona franchise because fans didn’t want to drive to the outlying Phoenix suburb of Glendale. Ottawa’s NHL team has faced the same distance problem with its arena and has plans to build a new one downtown.

Any modifications, waivers, or exceptions to the Toyota Center’s 30-mile restrictive non-compete covenant must be jointly approved by both the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority (HCHSA) board and Clutch City Sports & Entertainment (the entity through which the Houston Rockets lease and operate the venue). The 30-mile rule can be swept aside. But it’s irrelevant if Friedkin isn’t looking for tax help.

The NHL’s two most recent expansion franchises – the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken – received little or no tax assistance to build their respective arenas.

The market that moves faster on zoning approvals, infrastructure guarantees, and tax-friendly site allocation will hold the ultimate leverage during the six-month evaluation period, and Houston has no zoning laws.

*****

Ivy McLemore covered the Houston Aeros hockey team for the Associated Press 1976-78. He has been a reporter, editor, and investment management communications executive and is author of Finding Satoshi: The Real Story Behind Mysterious Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

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