NHL announces 'World Cup of Hockey' tournament for February 2028

[p]Locations for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey will take place in Prague, Calgary, and Edmonton, where the semi-finals and final will take place. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters that 28 cities bid to host the World Cup - 18 in North America, 10 in Europe.[/p][p]There will be eight total countries, not yet named, who will be participating, with two Pool groups of four. The top three teams from each Pool will advance to the next round.[/p][p]The tournament will also feature NHL Stanley Cup Playoff overtime rules in the championship game, meaning five-on-five, unlike the Olympics' three-on-three.[/p][embed guid="c8d86750-f60f-45ac-86cc-8bf0c492fb88" url="https://x.com/NHL/status/2033581560545296443?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The news comes after the league saw the success of the 4 Nations tournament last year, which grossed over a record-breaking 16 million viewers across North America ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/hockey-nhl-canada-s-4-nations-face-off-win-over-united-states-largest-viewership-ever-for-espn/ERnBP1V9/"]details here[/a]).[/p][p]Canada took down the USA in the 4 Nations tournament to win the gold medal in its debut, one that trended online for multiple fights within the first minute of the game and the intensity that even non-hockey fans enjoyed, bringing a whole new group of fans to the sport.[/p][p]News of the league's World Cup also comes before the start of the FIFA World Cup this year and during the ongoing World Baseball Classic, which has been a historic tournament itself in terms of baseball records and viewership. Team USA alone has seen a 183% veiwership increase from their 2023 final run, which ended in a loss to Japan. [/p][p]Now, the NHL is ready to get in on the action and give the fans what they want as the league moves away from its heavily criticized All-Star games.[/p][embed guid="611ceb5e-08fb-45fe-b002-2146a97a77ea" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQMaxwaETLU" social-type="youtube" /]