Seattle Kraken to host Vegas Golden Knights in 2024 Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park

The National Hockey League’s two newest franchises are about to go head-to-head in an outdoor battle on January 1, 2024.

The Seattle Kraken will host the 2024 Winter Classic against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park, the home of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball.

The NHL announced Seattle’s upcoming outdoor game in the hours leading up to the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins taking to the ice at Fenway Park for the 2023 Winter Classic.

The Kraken have never played in an outdoor game, having only joined the NHL in 2021. The Golden Knights previously participated in the “NHL Outdoors” series at Lake Tahoe, NV during the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020–21 season.

While Las Vegas has never hosted an NHL regular-season game, Caesars Palace — and to be more specific, its parking lot — was the site of an exhibition contest between the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings back in 1991. Wayne Gretzky’s Kings won 5–2.

With Seattle now getting an outdoor game of its own (and the Carolina Hurricanes set to host the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, NC in February), only three NHL teams have yet to participate in one of these special events: the Arizona Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Florida Panthers.

Furthermore, the Vancouver Canucks did host a Heritage Classic game at BC Place Stadium back in 2014, but the game took place under a closed retractable roof. To this day, the Canucks have never participated as the home or road team in a proper outdoor game.

The 2024 Winter Classic is currently one of two outdoor games slated for the 2023–24 NHL regular season. As was officially announced on New Years’ Eve, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers will take to the ice at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton for the 2023 Heritage Classic on October 29.