Sabres Could Be Host of 2028 Winter Classic: NHL Considers Buffalo

NHL Winter Classic Could Return to Buffalo in 2028

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman revealed that there is a high probability that the league will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its annual Winter Classic at the place where it all began: Orchard Park, New York.

I’m not making an announcement or committing, but we are focused on whether we can do it on the twentieth anniversary of the original Winter Classic,” Bettman stated. “We have already discussed the possibility of an outdoor game at Highmark, and that’s something we think would be great.

Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner

Bettman was referring to the current stadium of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, which will also be the name of the new $2.1 billion facility being built across the street and set to open in July.

The first Winter Classic was held in the old stadium, then called Ralph Wilson Stadium, on January 1, 2008. The event immediately captivated the imagination of the NHL and its fans. The combination of falling snow and a stadium filled with 71,217 fans created a snowball effect for the international television audience.

In addition, the then-rising NHL star, Sidney Crosby, sealed the victory of the Pittsburgh Penguins over Buffalo, with a score of 2-1, by scoring the decisive goal in the penalty shootout. The NHL has hosted 16 Winter Classics in various notable stadiums across the United States, including Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Boston’s Fenway Park, and Dallas’s Cotton Bowl, in a game usually played on New Year’s Day. The league has added other outdoor games to its schedule, totaling 41 since the first Winter Classic, with this year’s game scheduled for the Miami Marlins’ LoanDepot Park on January 2nd. Bettman joked about how the NHL envisioned the instant success of the Winter Classic, before adding that he was joking about what began as a unique proposal that the Sabres and NBC presented to the league.

“We are grateful to have done it here first,” Bettman said. “And we will be back, I promise.”

Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner

Logistically, it helps that the Sabres and the Bills are owned by Terry Pegula. Highmark Stadium also hosted an international hockey game between the United States and Canada in December 2017, when Buffalo hosted the World Junior Championships.