Detroit — Expansion teams can expect to land in leagues as “wannabes.”
They want to be good.
Some get there quickly, and nurture financial success in their markets.
Others take longer; some, much longer.
In the NHL, expansion teams have sometimes failed in their original markets. Since 1967, franchises in Oakland, Kansas City and two in Atlanta relocated, searching for success, and no expansion team compiled a winning record in its first season.
Then came Vegas.
Never has any major professional sports league in North America hit a jackpot, like the NHL with the Golden Knights, who play the Red Wings Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.