NHL moving closer to finalizing details for 2028 World Cup of Hockey

HENDERSON, Nev. — The NHL is moving closer to finalizing details for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey with the intention of having decisions made early next year, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com from the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour on Tuesday.

“We’ve gone through a process where we’ve gotten expressions of interest by a number of cities in North America and Europe as well,” Daly said. “We are progressing now past the expression of interest stage into the bid stage. There will be some smaller group of bidders, but we hope to be in position to nail it down and make announcements early in the new year.”

Daly said at least two-thirds of NHL cities have expressed an interest in hosting the World Cup. In addition, he said the League has received interest from close to 20 European cities.

The NHL and NHL Players Association are planning for World Cup games to be played in North America and Europe. All medal-round games are expected to be played in North America.

“In Europe probably somewhere under 10 (cities) will go onto the bidding process and we have some thoughts on that,” Daly said. “We’re trying to do it in a strategic way, what’s going to make our business better and bigger in the future, where our international opportunities are most acute, I guess. The objective is to be strategic with the decision-making.”

Daly said the 2028 World Cup will feature eight national teams competing, all by invitation only.

“We won’t have a qualifying round,” he said. “Our hope for future World Cups is to develop a qualifying round but not for 2028. That’s the thought process.”

Daly said the League and NHLPA are proceeding with its World Cup decisions and preparations without involvement from the International Ice Hockey Federation because of conflicts of interest.

“That doesn’t mean that at some point in time that may not change,” Daly said. “It may, but at this point we are doing this with our existing relationships that we have with European hockey. I think there’s a level of excitement for the tournament. The IIHF has its own relationship with In Front, which is a marketing agency, and they have some contractual complications involved in helping us. So, at least at this point in time, we’re doing it on our own. So, as an initial matter we’re going right through the member national federation association and that will be the principal point of contact. And then to the extent we have to deal with league infrastructure (in Europe) we have the abilities and relationships to do that.”

The 2028 tournament will be the fourth World Cup of Hockey jointly operated by the NHL and NHLPA after 1996, 2004 and 2016. It will come two years after NHL players participate in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 this February, marking the League’s first involvement in the Olympics since 2014.

Daly said returning to the Olympics comes at the right time for the League.

“A lot of things have changed in the last 12 years,” Daly said. “The game is a lot bigger. Business is a lot bigger. The stage continues to be big. The Olympics is probably sports’ biggest stage. We continue to have players develop from a lot of different countries and we expect this year we’ll have the most NHL players ever in an Olympic games, somewhere between 160-180 players. So I think we’re going with the hope and sense that it will be really good for the sport as a whole and will bring attention to our players in ways that don’t normally avail themselves.”

The NHL is also thinking about enhancing the Global Series product by looking at the opportunity to play outdoor games overseas, Daly said.

“I can’t say that we have an active project of working on an outdoor Global Series game, but by the same token I don’t think it’s out of the question at all,” Daly said. “It could be in our future, maybe in our relatively near future.”

For a while there was a discussion about the NHL playing outdoor games in Florida too. That’s becoming reality this season.

The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers will play in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot Park in Miami on Jan. 2, and the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins will play in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 1.

“Some of the things we’re able to do technologically to protect the ice and protect the ice builds, that’s important and that’s obviously going to be key,” Daly said. “In Tampa in particular, we’re going to create kind of a cover to put on the rink as we prepare for the game. I think Miami is probably more conducive to what we need to do because you can open and close the roof and you can control the indoor environment at least leading up to the game. The only thing that you can’t control is what the environment is when we’re playing the game and that will be true in Tampa as well.”

Similar to the Global Series, Daly said the League is constantly thinking about ways to get creative with the Winter Classic and Stadium Series.

“It really involves and needs creative people to think outside the box and what themes would appeal to our fans and new fans of hockey,” Daly said. “That’s why the two games in Florida for our Stadium Series and Winter Classic is, I think, a unique touch and a tribute to the way those two franchises have performed both on the ice and off.”