NHL Franchise Fee Near $2 Billion Sparks Scrutiny Of South Forsyth Arena

Vernon Krause, president and CEO of Krause Sports & Entertainment, confirmed he remains in talks with the NHL and warned the cost of a 33rd franchise has jumped. "We are in constant communication with the NHL," Krause said, and added, "The franchise fee has risen." January 2026 reports placing the expansion fee near $2 billion have prompted fresh questions about the financing for The Gathering at South Forsyth, a proposed multi-billion-dollar mixed-use development on a 100-acre tract near the Forsyth–Fulton County line about a mile from Georgia Highway 400.

The Gathering's centerpiece is an arena variously described as an 18,500-seat or 18,700-seat facility. NelsonWorldwide reported the developer envisions a $700 million arena within a project that "will likely cost more than $2 billion, including the arena," and cited a possible 750,000-square-foot arena plan. The full site plan flagged by NelsonWorldwide includes roughly 1 million square feet of office space, 400,000 square feet of retail, 1,800 apartments, 150 single-family homes, hotels with up to 500 rooms and up to 8,780 on-site parking spaces mostly in decks.

Public commitment and subsidy figures for the Cumming-area project vary across documents and reporting. Forsyth County commissioners in late March 2024 reportedly approved subsidies of up to $250 million contingent on Krause securing an NHL team. Fox5Atlanta reported the board unanimously approved final operating agreements and funding at a June 11, 2025 special session. NelsonWorldwide describes separate negotiation figures: a proposed $390 million subsidy package, a breakdown where the county would fund half of the arena’s construction cost as a $350 million subsidy, plus a potential $40 million county contribution to a parking deck. NelsonWorldwide also states that "All public financing is contingent upon the NHL awarding an expansion team ahead of time, officials said."

Economic-impact projections underpinning the pitch to county leaders come from an Ernst & Young study cited by NelsonWorldwide. EY estimated $2.6 billion in economic impact and nearly 8,750 permanent jobs if the project is built, with 5,261 of those jobs in speculative office buildings and roughly 35 percent of forecasted workers expected to be Forsyth residents. NelsonWorldwide highlighted the report's caveats, noting analysts warn there is "no guarantee the buildings would fully lease or that those jobs would be net new ones to the region" and that stadium deals frequently underdeliver on job and revenue promises.

Krause signaled the financing challenge directly to investors. "We're operating under the assumption that’s what it’s going to be. That’s what we’re going to our investors with," he said, reflecting a recalibration after the reported January 2026 fee escalation from previous expansion fees of $500 million for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2016 and $650 million for the Seattle Kraken in 2018. The materials assembled for county consideration list both Vernon Krause and Alfred John, chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, as primary sources for project details; no direct quote from John is in the record provided.

Discrepancies in public documents and reporting remain: the referendum granting the county redevelopment powers appears in one account as a November 2024 vote with a 56–44 margin, while another timeline lists a November 2025 vote, and subsidy totals are reported as $250 million, $350 million plus $40 million, and $390 million in different places. With the NHL fee reportedly near $2 billion, those conflicting dates and dollar amounts are now central to whether Forsyth County taxpayers, developers and investors can align on a viable path to build an arena intended to attract a new NHL franchise.