The NHL’s first outdoor game in Europe could be taking place in the next few years.
According to David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, NHL president of content and events Steve Mayer recently said “he wouldn’t be surprised” if an NHL Stadium Series game takes place in Europe “in the coming years.”
The NHL has been holding regular-season games in outdoor venues since the first Stadium Series game took place in 2014 between the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings in Dodger Stadium.
This year’s edition of the series is set to take place on Feb. 1, 2026, when the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning face off at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium.
The league has meanwhile been staging regular-season contests overseas through its ongoing Global Series, which began in 2017 with a game between the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche in Stockholm, Sweden.
This year’s international slate features the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins playing two games in Stockholm’s Avicii Arena.
Mayer previously told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan in February the NHL had received “inquiries from around the world” about potentially hosting an outdoor game.
“We haven’t really focused on one particular area, one particular stadium, but we have had conversations about a potential outdoor game overseas,” Mayer said in January, per Kaplan. “Nothing is imminent at all, but I could see down the line years as something in the future that is a possibility for sure.”
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said in a January episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast that the NHL “wanted to start working hard on the German market,” and postulated that the league could consider someday playing in a German soccer stadium.
The NHL’s outdoor slate will continue this winter in Florida, when the 2026 NHL Winter Classic takes place on Jan. 2 in Miami followed by the Stadium Series in Tampa the following month.
