MetLife Stadium will host the 2024 NHL Stadium Series in back-to-back days, a first for the outdoor games.
“When you think about how much hockey means to this area and the number of people that are involved in the game at all levels, [there is] no better place to fill this magnificent 80,000-seat stadium twice in less than 24 hours. It’s going to be a great weekend,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
Joining him at the press conference were NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, representatives from each of the four teams, and other local lawmakers and stakeholders.
The NHL Stadium Series at MetLife
The New Jersey Devils will face the Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. ET (televised on ABC and ESPN+). The New York Rangers will play the New York Islanders on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. ET (televised on ABC and ESPN+).
“We couldn’t be more excited about having this great celebration of hockey in the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia area,” Bettman added.
The logo was unveiled at the press conference, and it was announced that tickets for each game are on sale now and expected to sell out fast. Details about the uniforms, a fan fest and a concert will be released at a later date.
Back-to-Back Outdoor Games at MetLife
“You can’t do it everywhere,” Commissioner Bettman said of hosting back-to-back outdoor games at the same stadium, “but you can do it in a place like this that knows how to bring events in and out and we don’t see any difficulties. They can turn the stadium over as they do repeatedly for Jets and Giants games.”
The Flyers have played five outdoor games (1-3-1), the Rangers four (4-0-0), and the Devils and Islanders one each (0-1-0 respectively).
“I think everyone feels very fortunate. It is a great event,” Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said. “Our players are excited as everyone has mentioned they circle the calendar right away for this game. Such a great venue.”
The 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series will feature the 40th and 41st NHL regular-season outdoor games, and will be the third and fourth such contests scheduled for the 2023-24 NHL regular-season, which also includes the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™ (Calgary at Edmonton on Oct. 29) and the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic® (Vegas at Seattle on Jan. 1). A complete history of NHL regular-season outdoor games can be found here.
NHL Stadium Series Another Win for MetLife
The outdoor games cap a successful summer run of concerts at MetLife Stadium, including the record-breaking Taylor Swift Eras Tour. The announcement comes ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games and Gov. Murphy told the Associated Press (AP) that he sees the February weekend as “another audition of sorts” for the final decision of where the finals will be held.
“We’re pitching like heck to get the finals,” Murphy said. “Too early to tell, but the success of something like this is yet another datapoint that outsiders can look at and say, ‘These folks know what they’re doing.’ This is as good as it gets in terms of getting up on the wire, no net, all the lights on you and just executing flawlessly.”