After many months of rumors, the NHL confirmed a set of Global Series games for Australia for the 2023-24 season late Tuesday night. The Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings are set to play the first-ever NHL games in the Southern Hemisphere in Melbourne, Australia, on September 23 and 24 during the preseason.
Set to take place at Rod Laver Arena, known as the main venue for the Australian Open, the games mark a significant step in the NHL’s mission to increase the sport’s global reach and expand its international strategy. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman offered a statement on the games:
The Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings are two of our League’s rising young teams and among our most innovative and adventurous franchises. We look forward to their two games at Rod Laver Arena and know this history-making visit will thrill our many avid fans in Australia and cause so many more throughout the sports-loving nation to be captivated by our great game.
This will not be the first international trip for either team. The Kings played two preseason games in China in 2017 and have played games in Austria, Germany, England, and Sweden. Meanwhile, Arizona has played one preseason game in Latvia and two regular-season games in Czechia, all in 2010.
The announcement reaffirms the NHL’s fervent approach to international exposure since intercontinental travel became viable after the spikes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six teams made trips abroad last season, with a total of six Global Series games spanning the preseason and regular season.
Because Arizona cannot sell tickets in their own market, let alone another teams market, we will force them down another countries throats in an effort to grow the game.
Crikey! Should have included St. Louis, so the Aussies could see native son Nathan Walker.
He’s a UFA this offseason. I’d bet a lot of money he ends up with the Coyotes and former Blues AGM Bill Armstrong.
@Josh Erickson:Not according to Capfriendly. They say Walker won’t be UFA till the summer of 2024. I looked it up before I posted, because I hate when people correct me.
They want to promote hockey and they’re sending the Coyotes?!! Seems like a way to turn off the entire country.
These overseas expeditions are poison to the teams involved with them. The Preds never seemed to gain their bearings after that European vacation to start the season.
That’s because they didn’t have Clark Griswold and family with them