NHL Stadium Series

NHL Stadium Series

National Hockey League
First played	January 25, 2014
Times held	11
Teams participated	14
Most appearances	3: Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers
Most recent	2024

The Stadium Series is one of the series of regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL). This event is distinct from the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic, played in a different NHL city every year, and the NHL Heritage Classic (played occasionally at different Canadian stadiums). Games in the Stadium Series have been held in either late January, February, or early March in a football or baseball stadium in the United States. The first Stadium Series was held in 2014 and consisted of seven teams participating in four games held in three venues. In 2015, only one game in the Stadium Series was held, while in 2016 and in 2024, two games were held. From 2017 to 2023 and again in 2025, only one game was scheduled per year.

List of games

Dodger Stadium being prepped for the NHL's inaugural game of the Stadium Series in January 2014

• Bolded teams denote winners
• Italicized games are yet to be played

Year	Date	Primary team at venue	Venue	Location	Visiting team	Home team	Score	Attendance
2014	January 25	Los Angeles Dodgers	Dodger Stadium	Los Angeles, CA	Anaheim Ducks	Los Angeles Kings	3–0	54,099
	January 26	New York Yankees	Yankee Stadium	New York City, NY	New York Rangers	New Jersey Devils	7–3	50,105
	January 29				New York Rangers	New York Islanders	2–1	50,027
	March 1	Chicago Bears	Soldier Field	Chicago, IL	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Blackhawks	1–5	62,921
2015	February 21	San Francisco 49ers	Levi's Stadium	Santa Clara, CA	Los Angeles Kings	San Jose Sharks	2–1	70,205
2016	February 21	Minnesota Golden Gophers	TCF Bank Stadium	Minneapolis, MN	Chicago Blackhawks	Minnesota Wild	1–6	50,426
	February 27	Colorado Rockies	Coors Field	Denver, CO	Detroit Red Wings	Colorado Avalanche	5–3	50,095
2017	February 25	Pittsburgh Steelers	Heinz Field	Pittsburgh, PA	Philadelphia Flyers	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–4	67,318
2018	March 3	Navy Midshipmen	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	Annapolis, MD	Toronto Maple Leafs	Washington Capitals	2–5	29,516
2019	February 23	Philadelphia Eagles	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	Pittsburgh Penguins	Philadelphia Flyers	3–4 (OT)	69,620
2020	February 15	Air Force Falcons	Falcon Stadium	USAF Academy, CO	Los Angeles Kings	Colorado Avalanche	3–1	43,574
2022	February 26	Tennessee Titans	Nissan Stadium	Nashville, TN	Tampa Bay Lightning	Nashville Predators	3–2	68,619
2023	February 18	NC State Wolfpack	Carter–Finley Stadium	Raleigh, NC	Washington Capitals	Carolina Hurricanes	1–4	56,961
2024	February 17	New York Giants & New York Jets	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Philadelphia Flyers	New Jersey Devils	3–6	70,328
	February 18				New York Rangers	New York Islanders	6–5 (OT)	79,690
2025	March 1	Ohio State Buckeyes	Ohio Stadium	Columbus, OH	Detroit Red Wings	Columbus Blue Jackets	N/A	N/A

Uniforms

The uniforms worn in the Stadium Series are unique in that they feature enlarged logos, letters and numbers in order to increase visibility for spectators who sit in the upper deck seats. Whereas the Winter Classic and Heritage Classic focused on vintage hockey uniform designs intended on celebrating ice hockey history, the Stadium Series focused on more futuristic and experimental looks showcasing the modernization of the sport.

While a majority of the participating teams were able to create radically new looks for the event, the New Jersey Devils in the 2014 Stadium Series refused to do so, instead wearing their throwback red and green uniforms during the game. This was due to general manager Lou Lamoriello's refusal to adopt the third jersey trend at the time. However, for their 2024 Stadium Series appearance, the Devils wore a different uniform design akin to the game itself, having embraced the third jersey concept following Lamoriello's departure in 2015.

Broadcasters

Main article: List of NHL outdoor games broadcasters

United States

In the United States, the Stadium Series was broadcast on NBC Sports from 2014 to 2020, as they held the U.S. national NHL rights during that period. NBC aired the majority of the Stadium Series games on Saturday nights; the exceptions being the 2014 Ducks–Kings game in Dodger Stadium (aired on NBCSN), the 2014 Islanders–Rangers game in Yankee Stadium (held on Wednesday night on NBCSN), and the 2015 Kings–Sharks game in Levi's Stadium (aired on NBCSN).

From 2022 to 2028, the U.S. national rights are split between the ESPN family of networks and TNT, with the former producing the weekend Hockey Saturday package on ABC. Scheduling conflicts have largely dictated which of the two broadcasters have aired Stadium Series games. The 2022 game aired on TNT, marking a return to cable television for the first time since 2015, while ABC was committed to airing the NBA on that day. In 2023 and 2024, the Stadium Series was scheduled at the same time as TNT's broadcasts of NBA All-Star Weekend, thus ESPN/ABC has covered these games. The 2025 game was moved to ESPN due to ABC's NBA commitments.

Canada

In Canada, the first two 2014 Stadium Series games were aired on CBC, while TSN simulcast NBCSN's broadcast of the Islanders–Rangers game. The Penguins–Blackhawks game did not air in Canada due to CBC's prior commitment to broadcast a Canadiens–Maple Leafs game. Since the 2014–15 season, Sportsnet has been the sole rightsholder of NHL national games in Canada, taking over Hockey Night in Canada in a sublicensing agreement with CBC. However, with the exception of the 2015 game, Sportsnet has generally simulcast the American broadcast feed of the Stadium Series. They would still provide their own broadcast crew if a Canadian team is involved, as was the case in 2018 with the Maple Leafs–Capitals game.