NHL to Florida: Let’s Play Two! Outdoor Games In Miami, Tampa

The NHL is bringing not one but two outdoor games to Florida next season with a pair of games in the ‘Sunshine State of Hockey.’

To celebrate the success of two its biggest sunbelt success stories, the NHL will have both the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning play host to outdoor games in two very different venues.

The Panthers will face the New York Rangers at LoanDepot Park in the 2026 Winter Classic on Jan. 2.

The home of the Miami Marlins has a fully retractable roof which will help with the ice-making process — yet can be opened up for the game itself.

A few weeks later, the Tampa Bay Lightning will welcome the Boston Bruins to the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium for a Stadium Series game on Feb. 1, 2026.

That building does not have a roof of any kind — it does have a pirate ship in one end zone, however — meaning the ice-builders will have their work cut out for them.

Plans are for the NHL to build a special concrete/metal warehouse-sized temporary building at field level in order to build the ice.

The building would be removed in the days before the game dependent on the weather — which should be mild or nice and cold at that time of year in the Bay Area.

The Panthers will play in the 17th Winter Classic.

The NHL hopes to have the roof open at LoanDepot Park in Miami — as it was here for Marlins Opening Day in 2016 against the Detroit Tigers — when it plays host to the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers in the Winter Classic next season. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

By the time the Lightning game is complete, the NHL will have staged 45th outdoor games.

What the NHL is doing, obviously, is quite creative, with Commissioner Gary Bettman saying “some people will think we’ve lost our minds” when he hinted about where the next round of outdoor games would be held during the New Year’s Eve Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

Bringing ice hockey outside in Florida — winter months or not — certainly brings those questions to mind.

What, exactly, are they thinking?

That it will work, that’s what.

“Outdoor NHL games in the Sunshine State? Never let it be said that our League isn’t willing to accept a challenge,” Bettman said in a statement obtained by FHN on Tuesday. 

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa before an NFL game on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Menendez)

The NHL plans to combine the two games in a way to celebrate hockey throughout the state, with word being some sort of traveling exhibit stopping in different cities and towns.

The statewide tour would start in South Florida and make its way to Tampa.

The two opponents of the Panthers and Lightning are not by coincidence.

New meets old is the thought; Florida and Tampa Bay were both part of the league’s southern expansion in the 1990s.

They will both play Original Six teams in their respective games.

“Stanley Cups, strings of sellouts and the exponential growth of youth and high school hockey throughout the state have demonstrated that Florida is a hockey hotbed,’’ Bettman said. 

“The Panthers and Lightning have told us repeatedly that they and their fans want this special experience. … Florida, we’re bringing our unique events to you, and we can’t wait.”

Talks between the Panthers, Lightning, and the NHL about hosting such events went from being flat-out rejected as pure folly to, pardon the pun, being warmly received over the years.

The Panthers and Marlins started serious talks about hosting a game at the ballpark a few years ago.

The Marlins have been in since the start.

Once the NHL figured out a way to build ice at the Buccaneers’ stadium allowing for both teams to host a game, it was on.

“It is an honor to work with the NHL and Florida Panthers to bring the magic of outdoor hockey to South Florida,” Marlins President of Business Caroline O’Connor said.

“The NHL Winter Classic is an iconic sporting event, and we are excited to bring it to loanDepot park for our community to experience.”

Bettman finally toured the ballpark last summer during the Stanley Cup playoffs and was not only impressed, but convinced such a game could be pulled off.

“This is something we have wanted for a long time,’’ team president and CEO Matt Caldwell said last week. “To play the Rangers in Miami … we have a ton of fans here in Broward and Miami who will have great access to the game.

“The state of hockey, the fact that both us and the Lightning will be getting a game together is phenomenal. The growth of hockey in Florida has just been incredible. The last five years, the Stanley Cup gone through Florida — and hopefully, we make it a sixth this year.

“To be able to celebrate these two franchises and have us play two great Original Six teams, I think, is phenomenal.”

The NHL wants to celebrate not only the on and off-ice successes of the Panthers and Lightning, but the growth of the game throughout the state.

Not only have the Lightning won the Stanley Cup three times and the Panthers once, but according to the league, ice hockey registration in Florida “is up 212 percent over the 25-year span from 1999 to 2024, with 21,199 registered players in the state last season, tripling participation from the levels at the turn of the millennium.

“Girls’ hockey participation is up 16.1 percent year-over-year and up 56 percent over the past eight years. This season, there are eight Florida-born players in the NHL, more than double the number from a decade ago.”

The 2026 Winter Classic will be Florida’s first outdoor game; the 2026 Stadium Series will be the Lightning’s second trip outdoors having played in Nashville in 2022.

The Rangers are 5-0 in outdoor games and playing in No. 6 would tie them with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia for second all-time behind the Blackhawks (seven).

Boston (4-1) also gets its sixth outdoor game.

The Panthers will give up a home game at Amerant Bank Arena to host the game in Miami, with the team expecting all season ticket holders to get first crack at tickets down the road.

Florida traditionally plays host to the Rangers during the days after the Christmas holiday break and will now play that game in Miami.

By playing the game on Jan. 2, the Winter Classic will avoid any conflict with the Capital One Orange Bowl — a College Football Playoff quarterfinal in 2026 — which will be played in Miami Gardens on Jan. 1.

TNT will broadcast the 2026 NHL Winter Classic; ESPN will carry the 2026 NHL Stadium Series.

Not going against the three CFP quarterfinals on New Year’s Day (and record low ratings for the Wrigley Field game which was moved to New Year’s Eve this year) predicated the move to Jan. 2 which falls on a Friday.

“Us getting this game would be big for us, big for the franchise,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “We’re at the point where it is time. This is exciting.”

Added Caldwell: “I think our time has come and we deserve to be in an outdoor game. We’re fired up to have it right here locally.”

ON DECK: GAME No. 42

FLORIDA PANTHERS at UTAH HOCKEY CLUB

• When: Wednesday, 10 p.m.
• Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
• National TV: TNT, TruTV
• Streaming: Max
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Season Series — At Utah: Wednesday. At Florida: March 28.
• Last Season vs. Arizona Coyotes: Florida Won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series vs. Coyotes: Florida leads 21-20-0, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Boston Bruins, 1 p.m. (ABC)