LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NHL Board of Governors is scheduled to meet Wednesday and expected to vote on whether to award an expansion franchise to Las Vegas.

The franchise, which wouldn't begin to play until the 2017-18 season, would be the NHL's 31st team and the first major professional sports team in Las Vegas.

The NHL hasn't expanded since 2000, when Minnesota and Columbus paid $80 million each to join the league. Prospective Vegas owner Bill Foley is a wealthy businessman who isn't likely to blink at the elevated $500 million price tag previously proposed by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman as an expansion fee.

Organizers of the Las Vegas bid say they have secured more than 14,000 season-ticket deposits for a team, which would play in T-Mobile Arena, a new multipurpose building on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip.