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Virginia Beach arena developer to ‘aggressively’ pursue NHL team

Virginia Beach arena

Quebec City.

Las Vegas.

Seattle.

Virginia Beach.

Everyone knows that these markets want an NHL expansion team. The question is whether...Sorry? What was that? Oh, you want to know how Virginia Beach got in there?

Yes, the resort city of Virginia Beach wants an NHL team. Or an NBA team. Either will do. Because a new arena could be under construction as soon as next year. It might as well have a tenant, right?

Virginia Beach City Council approved the privately financed 18,000-seat arena earlier this week, after which the developer referenced the NHL’s expansion process during a press conference.

“The NHL currently has two considerations of two potential teams that are on the table right now that they’re going through that process, and so now that we have those approvals we can certainly pursue that more aggressively,” United States Management CEO Andrea Kilmer said, per 13newsnow.com.

“We have had discussions with the NHL. We feel confident that this market is right for an NHL team,” Kilmer said, per The Hampton Roads Business Journal.

USM still needs to close the financing with its Chinese lenders, but apparently shovels could be in the ground sometime next year.

Click here to read more about the developer’s plans for the arena. They even produced this informative video:

I have no idea if the NHL would ever consider putting a team in Virginia Beach. I’m skeptical, but according to Wikipedia, “Virginia Beach is the 3rd largest metropolitan area in the United States without a club in a major professional sports league, after the Las Vegas and Austin metropolitan areas.”

So you never know. Maybe if the Canadian dollar keeps falling, the Jets could move there. (Just kidding, Winnipeg. That’s not funny, I know.)

Anyway, as I was saying, everyone knows that these markets want an NHL expansion team. The question is whether they’ll get one.

The end.