NHL Winter Classic Puts Seattle in National Spotlight

On the heels of a massive 2023 for sports in the region, spotlighted by the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, New Year’s Day will be a big start to 2024 in Seattle.

On New Year’s Eve, the playoff-contending Seahawks play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers. New Year’s Day starts for Seattle sports at noon local time when the Kraken host the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park in the annual NHL Winter Classic … with the unbeaten University of Washington football team playing Texas at the Sugar Bowl later that day in the College Football Playoff, triggering so much fan demand that Alaska Airlines added flights to New Orleans for the weekend.

“It is a quintessential Seattle sports weekend,” said Beth Knox, president and chief executive officer for the Seattle Sports Commission. “It’s such a classic moment for sports where all of our fans will be out and supporting their teams and often times multiple teams. It’s really showcasing the incredible enthusiasm and passion of Seattle fans.”

While the Winter Classic is a different event in terms of length of activations for local fans compared to the five days of MLB-related events, seldom does a city get the opportunity to host two major events in a six-month period in the same venue, allowing the region a double boost of brand exposure.

“What’s exciting about the Winter Classic and having hosted MLB is it really just sets us up for (FIFA World Cup 2026) and other things along the way,” said Kelly Saling, Visit Seattle chief sales officer. “We’ve got some (NCAA Men’s Tournament in 2025) and on the backs of Climate Pledge Arena opening, we’re building as a sports town that has really had an undercurrent of fandom. Now we get the sparkle that we’ve not had in a really long time.”

Along with the Seattle Sports Commission’s role in supporting outreach to the community, both Visit Seattle and Explore Seattle Southside have set up visitor hub pages for those coming to the region for the game with recommendations for neighborhoods to explore, transportation options and more.

“Events like the NHL Winter Classic coming to our area present exciting opportunities to showcase our area to new visitors who might not be familiar with the Seattle Southside region,” said Cydney Marks-Nicholes, sports business development manager at Explore Seattle Southside.

y’all…. retractable roofs are a thing 😂 https://t.co/SctKHtbJD0— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 30, 2023

A First in the West

The game will be the first Winter Classic in the Pacific Time Zone, as well as Seattle’s first outdoor game (Vegas appeared in the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe). This will also be the first Winter Classic to take place in a retractable roof stadium with the NHL closing T-Mobile Park’s retractable roof ahead of the game.

“Our city has been a real baseball town and we’re newer to hockey,” Saling said, “but when Kraken season tickets went on sale this year, they were record-breaking by a long shot in how quickly they sold out, which really represents how excited this town is for hockey.”

And with T-Mobile right next to Lumen Field, the bespoke experience of hockey outdoors near the Puget Sound will — weather permitting — allow for some spectacular downtown footage for those watching the Classic on television.

“Anytime you’re looking at the stadium and there’s the waterfront with the wheel and the ferries going in the background, it’s just a reminder of what a special place this is,” Saling said. “I think that that’s one of the big parts of being on TV on January 1st when people are home and the TV’s on and they’re looking as the city really sparkles.”

For the Winter Classic, the rink will sit at the center of T-Mobile Park, atop oceanic topographic maps that convey the region’s waters of Puget Sound. Docks and piers surround the rink, providing entry points onto the field for the Kraken and Golden Knights. Exposed areas of illustrated water within the snow and ice landscape feature an auxiliary ice rink and boats. The iceberg floating behind the team benches features an NHL compass representing the Pacific Northwest.

For one afternoon, baseball’s “batter’s eye” is given over to the eye of the Kraken. The NHL on TNT set will broadcast from a boat house erected in left field, overlooking the auxiliary rink that will host local youth hockey players throughout the game. The opening ceremony will begin with the Kraken’s and Golden Knights’ on-field arrivals from the dugouts onto the docks.

“Hosting these events the past year and coming up is all part of our grander vision for positing Seattle as a world-class sports market,” Knox said. “We are using these as templates to be able to hold future events and continue on this path of being that sports destination.”