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Blittner’s Blue Line: The NHL’s Global Series

Pack your bags, because we’re going on an international trip. 

This past weekend, the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres got a head start on the regular season by playing two games in Prague as part of the NHL’s Global Series. New Jersey won both games and currently sits atop The NHL’s standings with four points. But more importantly, The League was able to showcase its frozen fury of a sport and hopefully brought my eyeballs to the product. After all, events like these are all about gaining more fans, expanding into more markets, and growing the game. In other words, it’s all about the money. 

That got us thinking, is there a way to improve upon the NHL’s Global Series? 

For a number of years now, The NFL has played multiple regular-season games in London, England, a few in Germany and they even played one in Brazil. MLB has even gotten in on the international action by playing a handful of games in London and several more in Japan. 

Now, going overseas isn’t exactly new to The NHL, but there is something The League can do to make its international games a bigger deal and more on par with what The NFL and MLB have been able to accomplish. 

For starters, The NHL should consider moving its international games to an outdoor stadium. A soccer – sorry, futebol – stadium would be an ideal place to play hockey under the elements. Much like American football, soccer arenas provide a much better viewing experience for hockey than a baseball stadium. Plus, outside of America, soccer is the most popular sport in the world and often has the largest arenas to hold the most amount of fans. 

Imagine for a second an NHL game being played at Allianz Arena, home to one of the most popular soccer teams in the world, Bayern Munich. Or how about a hockey game at Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid? Doesn’t that sound enticing? No? Okay, what about Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United? 

Just picture the atmosphere at these venues. Everybody knows European soccer games have some of the most incredible fanbases, rituals, and traditions in the entire world. Imagine tapping into that for an NHL game?!

Six years ago, the Devils went to Switzerland to play SC Bern. The Athletic sent their at-the-time Devils beat writer, Corey Masisak to Switzerland to cover the game and upon his return, he said it was one of the most unbelievable experiences of his life. He described how the fans in attendance carried their soccer traditions over to the hockey game and how it made for a once-in-a-lifetime atmosphere. 

Well, why should that be a once-in-a-lifetime thing? And how much better do you think it would be if the two teams playing were both from The NHL, instead of one NHL team playing an exhibition against a local team? 

How about getting some of the players from those storied soccer teams involved? Bayern Munich’s Captain would surely drop the puck for the ceremonial face-off if the game was at Allianz Arena. Real Madrid would certainly allow some of its players to lead their fans in cheers from the stands during the game if it were played at Santiago Bernabeu. How about The Queen or King of England making an appearance on the ice at Old Trafford? Their majesty bringing a regal presence to the game would absolutely elevate the contest to a much higher level. 

The best part about this idea is that it doesn’t have to be the same stadium year after year. The NHL could choose a handful of stadiums to rotate through, similar to how The NFL chooses its Super Bowl locations. Or, if they wanted to stick with just one arena, that’s fine too. Build a tradition out of it. Make it into a must-see affair and drum up so much interest that people will start speculating about putting an NHL team in that country full-time. (Just to clarify, we’re not advocating for that last part). 

Why limit the possibilities? If the goal is to build the sport of hockey and further develop The NHL’s brand in other markets, then The League should make the game(s) feel as big as possible. 

As the saying goes, “Go big or go home!”

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