Gary Bettman recently participated in an extensive interview which you can see on NHL.com. In it, Bettman covered a huge variety of topics which are worth discussing, but one which particularly stuck out involved outdoor games and the potential of one being held in Florida. After successfully hosting an outdoor game out west and with the league preparing to host another there in the near future, is Florida a possibility?
Bettman is here to crush your dreams of Florida hosting a Stadium Series game or a future Winter Classic game.
“I think there are probably still a couple places where we wouldn’t dare try it. I’m not sure South Florida ever gets cool enough with great predictability to ever do it. But yeah, we’ve now figured out that we can push the limits a little bit. That’s a testament to Dan Craig. As I said last year before and immediately after the game at Dodger Stadium, I only asked him 10,000 times over the span of a year, ‘Are you sure you can do this?’ There was no question. But again, there is a huge demand for these. Now in terms of games in California it’s not about the elements, we think we can deal with that, it’s about making sure we move this around and satisfy the interest that we’re getting on a continent-wide basis.”
Disappointing news, but not surprising news. Then again, most of us were certain as recently as a few years ago that California would never be able to host an outdoor game and look what happened. Maybe a game in Florida isn’t possible now, but it might be in the future as technology advances and progresses…assuming the state still plays host to at least one hockey team when that technology emerges.
