stars
The Stars will host the '20 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl, marking the "southernmost outdoor game in NHL history," according to Matthew DeFranks of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The Stars' opponent will be "announced at a later date." The '20 Winter Classic will come after the Stars, who are the ninth team to host the event, hosted the '18 NHL Draft, making the franchise the "fifth to host both a draft and a Winter Classic" since '08. NHL Exec VP & Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer said that the Draft "helped forge relationships with both Stars management and the Dallas Sports Commission." Capacity at the Cotton Bowl is 92,100, though that will "change for a hockey game." The opponent will be "chosen by the Stars, the league and NBC." Mayer said that the league did "look at other venues in the area, including Globe Life Park in Arlington, but did not seriously consider others" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/2).
ORIGINAL PLAN: THE ATHLETIC's Sean Shapiro noted the Stars four years ago originally wanted to "have a Stadium Series game at AT&T Stadium" during '17-18 as part of the 25th-anniversary celebration of the franchise moving from Minnesota to Texas. However, the plan "fell apart" early in '16-17. On the business end, all three parties involved "found it difficult to figure out the economics of making the game financially feasible." Stars President Brad Alberts said, "We weren’t honed in on the Winter Classic, we were just honed in on a Stadium Series game. It didn’t look like it would work so we backed away." Mayer said that from the NHL’s perspective, AT&T Stadium would "never really work for a Winter Classic." He added, "This is the outdoor game on our schedule it needs to be truly outdoors." The idea of an outdoor game was "tabled -- until the Stars started to kick around the idea of having a true outdoor game in the Cotton Bowl" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/1). NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has been in discussion with the Stars "about events for at least a couple of years." Bettman: "The Cotton Bowl is a logical locale for us to host the game." He added, "We’ve constantly tried to focus on unique and special situations, and that speaks to the markets or to iconic venues. In Dallas, we have the benefit of accomplishing both" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/1).
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT: USA TODAY's Kevin Allen wrote while the NHL has already "visited many of the legendary venues for the Winter Classic or Stadium series games, there are still desirable places still to be checked off." Some of those options include Lambeau Field, Penn State's Beaver Stadium, Army's Michie Stadium, Harvard Stadium and N.Y.'s Central Park (USA TODAY, 1/1). In Altoona, Cory Giger noted Penn State is "committed to finding other uses" for Beaver Stadium outside of football. PSU AD Sandy Barbour on Monday mentioned the "possibility for an NHL Winter Classic game" to come to the venue (ALTOONA MIRROR, 1/1).
