utah mammoth will host colorado avalanche at the 2027 Winter Classic at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium, the NHL announced Wednesday.
This will be the 47th NHL regular-season outdoor game, and the first for the Utah franchise – the only team in the league that had not yet participated in an outdoor game.
The Mammoth are in their third year of existence after Ryan and Ashley Smith purchased the franchise and moved the team from Arizona. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told ESPN this week that Utah has earned “the opportunity to host a marquee league event in the quickest possible time frame that anyone can imagine.”
Bateman said, “The level of excellence with which he launched this franchise and the reception the franchise and NHL hockey have received is beyond any expectations.” “If you go back to the first conversation Ryan and I had, it was all about Ryan wanting to do big things for Utah. … And on that list when we first had dinner, he was, ‘I want a league event. I want an All-Star game. I want an outdoor game. I want, I want, I want.’ And the question was not what he wanted to do, but what he wanted for Utah.”
The NHL has not yet released a date for the game at the University of Utah’s on-campus football stadium. The venue, which hosted the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in 2002 and will host the Olympics again in 2034, sits 4,657 feet above sea level with beautiful views of the Wasatch Range.
Smith cited seven ski resorts within 20 minutes of the venue, and he said he envisions fans associating the Winter Classic with a family ski vacation. He also hopes to showcase the state as an innovative tech hub with the country’s youngest population.
Smith, a Utah native, said his primary goal as an owner is to leverage sports to create important “once in a lifetime” moments that bring the people of Utah together.
Smith said, “There are a few things that are unique to Utah, and No. 1 is obviously what you’ll see all around you. You’ll be surrounded by the most epic mountain landscape you’ve ever seen.” “The second thing is that it is incredibly easy to do business in our state, and it is extremely efficient in terms of structure and infrastructure.
“…I think in a world where efficiency matters and people have time and ease of use, people will be able to come in, they’ll be able to stay, they’ll be able to come in and out and just enjoy the moment and say, ‘Wow, that was refreshing.'”
