The NHL is one step closer to establishing expansion teams in Las Vegas and Quebec City.
The league announced Tuesday it has received applications from prospective ownership groups in both markets, a day after a deadline for submissions.
The Las Vegas bid was submitted by billionaire businessman Bill Foley, who has spent the past seven months exploring the level of interest for professional hockey in the community. Montreal-based Quebecor, a Canadian media and telecommunications giant, submitted the bid for Quebec City, which previously served home to the NHL's Nordiques.
As part of their application, bidders were required to submit a $10 million down payment, $2 million of which was nonrefundable.
There are at least two more steps in the expansion process, and the bids require approval from the NHL's Board of Governors.
The league doesn't anticipate expanding before the 2017-18 season and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has proposed an expansion fee of at least $500 million. That's a significant jump from the $80 million fee paid by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild, when the NHL last expanded to 30 teams in 2000.
Without going into specifics, the NHL said it has received and responded to application requests from 16 separate groups since the application process opened on July 6.