NHL eyeing potential outdoor game in Nashville, Bettman says
The rambunctious fans in Nashville might soon get to take their shenanigans outside.
Last season, the NHL was put on notice about the passion Predators fans have for their team during their Cinderella playoff run. That, coupled with Nashville's success at hosting NHL events, has the league considering a potential outdoor game in the Music City.
"We could see an outdoor game," Bettman said Thursday, according to Adam Vingan of the Tennessean. "I mean, there's scheduling issues, logistical issues. You have a college bowl game (Music City Bowl) that could interfere with a Winter Classic. We have to look at a lot of permutations, but Nashville has done an outstanding job any time we've held an event here, not the least of which was the All-Star Game.
"This has really become a destination city in a whole host of ways. I could envision us doing an outdoor game here. I can't give you a timetable and I can't exactly give you the specifics because there's a lot of things logistically we would have to work out. But it's something we have our eye on."
As Vingan notes, the Predators are one of eight teams yet to play in an outdoor game. Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks will play in their seventh outdoor game next season.
Such an event would present a new challenge to Predators fans: throwing a catfish onto stadium ice.