It has been reported by several sources (including TSN here: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/dregerreport/) that the Philadelphia is the lead candidate to host next year’s Winter Classic festivities which happen every year on New Year’s Day in an outdoor stadium.
“The NHL hasn't officially signed off on the location, largely because of building availability in Philadelphia. The NHL would love to host the outdoor game at Lincoln Financial Field, but the NFL's schedule is making the football stadium virtually impossible, so Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies, will likely be the venue of choice.
The Flyers will likely face the New York Rangers, but the Rangers are waiting for confirmation of their involvement.
The idea of watching John Tortorella co-exist with cameras invading the sanctity of his dressing room and private quarters will almost guarantee huge ratings for HBO's 24/7 leading up to the Winter Classic.”
As mentioned, nothing has been officially confirmed by either parties. But some interesting statistics to look at. Certainly it’s cool to see a baseball park, especially one as nice as Citizens Bank Park, draped in snow with a hockey rink in the middle, but the atmosphere of an NFL stadium goes unparalleled when it comes to the outdoor hockey game. Now there’s also a major question in TV ratings. In 2010, the Flyers were playing the Bruins in the outdoor game in Fenway Park. Surprisingly, although their home team was involved in the major event, the Winter Classic came in 3RD PLACE FOR TV RATINGS IN THE PHILADELPHIA AREA!!! What was in front of it? Mummer’s New Year’s Day Parade and the Penn State Bowl Game both drew more attention in the city. So questionable decision by the NHL as far as those 2 areas are concerned. Once again, there has not been definite confirmation by anyone in the NHL and although HBO displayed optimism about another 24/7 series leading up to the Winter Classic, that hasn’t been confirmed yet either. So for now we will have to wait and see.
(Thanks to Tom Gulitti for the statistics)
Edit: ESPN also made a report this morning that it was reported to be between the Rangers and Flyers on January 2nd of the upcoming year. This could be to avoid conflict with other big market programs on TV like a parade or a big college bowl game. But I think it’s a bad idea. January first is usually connected to hockey fans in terms of the Winter Classic. They are moving the game from a Sunday to a Monday also so many people might not be able to watch the game because of work/school. They also said the game will be in Citizens Bank Park. We’ll just have to wait and see again.
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