Gary Bettman announces Utah Mammoth will host major NHL event on New Year’s Eve
Photo credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
This evening, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has announced that the Utah Mammoth have been selected to host a marquee event on the NHL calendar next season.
The Utah Mammoth are currently locked into a heated Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Ahead of game three, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke to the media and confirmed that the Winter Classic will be coming to Utah hosted by the NHL’s newest club.
Gary Bettman announces Utah Mammoth to host Winter Classic on New Year’s Eve
According to the announcement from Bettman, the Mammoth will host the Colorado Avalanche on New Year’s Eve at Rice Eccles Stadium.
Gary Bettman announces the Mammoth and Avalanche will play the Winter Classic at Rice Eccles Stadium on New Years Eve.
Rice Eccles Stadium is the home of the Utah Utes and holds over 50,000 fans one of the larger venues the NHL have been in over the last couple of years.
This will be a massive opportunity for the Mammoth to grow their fan base on the national stage as they continue to build a successful franchise from the ground up.
With the move to New Year’s Eve, the NHL will likely be competing with several other major sporting events including NCAA Football’s biggest playoff games of the year.
In the past, hosting the Winter Classic or Stadium Series in non traditional NHL market cities has backfired for the league but Gary Bettman is hoping to change that trend with this decision.
It will be interesting to see if the bold move to put the Mammoth and Avalanche in a prime time spot pays off or backfires for Bettman and the NHL to end 2026.
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