The 1977–78 Cleveland Barons season was the team's second and final season in the NHL. The relocation to Cleveland did not cure the attendance problems that plagued the franchise from its inception in Oakland as the Seals in 1967. In June 1978, with both the Barons and the Minnesota North Stars on the verge of folding, the league approved an arrangement in which the two teams were permitted to merge under the ownership of Barons owner George Gund III. The merged franchise continued as the Minnesota North Stars, and assumed the Barons old place in the Adams Division. Fifteen seasons later, the North Stars relocated to Dallas and became the Stars, bringing the NHL to Texas for the first time. The NHL returned to the Buckeye State when the Columbus Blue Jackets began play in 2000.