The Utah Mammoth will host the Colorado Avalanche in the 2027 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, with the game set for Dec. 31, 2026. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement Friday and said the game will be played in the late afternoon or early evening and in prime time in the East.
Ryan Smith said the Mammoth will turn the night into a New Year’s Eve celebration, with a concert at the Delta Center and a ball drop so fans can ring in the new year together. He said he wants the weekend to feel like an All-Star Game, with programming and activity across Utah, and called the plans a full slate of sports, concerts and events.
The Winter Classic will be Utah’s first outdoor game and the second of three outdoor NHL games on the 2026-27 schedule. The Winnipeg Jets will host the Montreal Canadiens in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic on Oct. 25, 2026, and the Dallas Stars will host the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2027 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Feb. 20, 2027.
Rice-Eccles Stadium sits on the University of Utah campus and seats more than 54,000 for college football. It also was the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, giving the league a venue already tied to some of the city’s biggest moments.
Utah established its new franchise on April 18, 2024, after buying the hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes. The team built a temporary practice facility, completed initial renovations of Delta Center and played its inaugural 2024-25 season as the Utah Hockey Club before later unveiling the Utah Mammoth brand, opening a new practice facility and finishing the next phase of Delta Center renovations.
Bettman said Utah’s start has exceeded the league’s expectations, and he was in Salt Lake City for the team’s first Stanley Cup Playoff game. The Mammoth then beat the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series, a result that only sharpens the spotlight on what comes next for a franchise that has moved fast from arrival to the league stage. The Winter Classic will now test how far that momentum can carry when New Year’s Eve arrives in Salt Lake City.