The Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s two newest franchises, will play the 2024 Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park, the league announced on Monday.
It will be the first time hosting an outdoor game for the Kraken, who are in their second season as a franchise.
It will be the second time the Golden Knights play in an outdoor game. Their first outdoor game came during the 2020-21 season, when they faced the Colorado Avalanche at Lake Tahoe.
Playing an outdoor game in Seattle had been discussed for some time. The long-standing belief was the league was considering T-Mobile Park, the home of the Seattle Mariners; Husky Stadium at the University of Washington; and Lumen Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks.
Kraken COO Victor de Bonis told ESPN in September that the team had told the league of its interest in hosting an outdoor game, the NHL All-Star Game and/or the NHL draft.
“We’ve always expressed interest in doing these events as we start a new franchise and build our fan base here,” de Bonis said at the time.
The league made the announcement shortly before the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins played in this year’s edition of the Winter Classic at Fenway Park.
T-Mobile Park joins Busch Stadium, Citi Field, Coors Field, Citizens Bank Park, Dodger Stadium, Nationals Park, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium and Fenway as the latest MLB park to host an NHL outdoor game.
Source: www.espn.com