A year from now, the NHL’s two newest franchises will go head-to-head outdoors. The 2024 Winter Classic will be between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The game is set for January 1, 2024 and will represent the first regular season outdoor game for the Kraken and the second for the Golden Knights after they took on the Colorado Avalanche at Lake Tahoe in 2021.
The home of MLB’s Seattle Mariners will be the event’s backdrop, which will be the 16th Winter Classic since it debuted in 2008. It will be broadcast exclusively on TNT in the United States and Sportsnet/TVA Sports in Canada. The league announced a long-term partnership with Discover as the primary sponsor of the event, technically making the match the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic.
After a disappointing inaugural season, the Kraken have come roaring back from the depths of the standings to compete for the playoffs this year. The team is 19-12-4 and sit fourth in the Pacific Division, despite having played the fewest games in the league (tied) to this point. They trail the Golden Knights by ten points in the standings but have played four fewer games, and still maintain a positive goal differential despite some recent struggles.
Matty Beniers appears poised to become one of the league’s stars, with 25 points in 35 games during his rookie season. The 2021 second-overall pick will likely be joined at next year’s event by Shane Wright and potentially other young players for the league to market. The Kraken have already become one of the NHL’s best revenue-generating franchises and were a perfect option to host a marquee event in the near future.
The Golden Knights, meanwhile, have quickly become one of the best marketing tools the league has, with a starring role in several big events. After missing the postseason last year, Vegas once again looks like a contender this year and have household names like Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, and Mark Stone to lead the way next year.
Why Seattle? They couldn’t find anyone else to play than the hacken?