The NHL announced that Calgary and Edmonton will host the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. The joint bid includes Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. (CSEC), Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), Tourism Calgary, Explore Edmonton, and the Province of Alberta.
In a press conference today, they released key details about the event:
- Prague, Czechia will host the European portion of the round robin. Calgary will host the North American portion of the round robin. Edmonton will host the semifinals and final.
- The estimated economic impact is $375M for the Province of Alberta. This is a conservative figure that includes estimated revenue based on direct and indirect tourism dollars injected by ticket holders. This doesn’t include anything from fans who attend events outside the arenas.
- An estimated 43 thousand jobs and 172 hotel nights will be created as a result of this event.
- Calgary and Edmonton submitted separate bids per the NHL’s request, but included a note about their willingness to jointly host.
- There were “many” other North American cities that submitted proposals to the RFP tendered by the NHL and NHLPA.
- Most cities with NBA franchises were unable to make the scheduling arrangements to host the event.
- The Province of Alberta allocated $15M to handle the bid process. Up to $8M in federal funding is also available as the event qualifies as an economic investment.
- This is the first time Alberta has participated in this type of bid.
- There are no anticipated delays for Scotia Place; construction is on track.
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Following the press conference, The Win Column was granted the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with Robert Hayes, the CEO of CSEC.
Here’s what Hayes had to say:
The Win Column’s interview with Robert Hayes
Karim Kurji: How were the hosts for each part of the tournament decided? There was great collaboration between Edmonton and Calgary; however, Edmonton is hosting the elimination games. Was Calgary considered for those games?
Robert Hayes: The NHL told us. They said that, as the successful group in this case for North America, and you’re going to host as a province together as two teams, here is what the split will be for the games. Full stop. So we had no input before, during, or after that process.
Karim Kurji: With this being the first time Alberta has participated in a bid like this, does this open the door a little bit more for Calgary to potentially host other events like the NHL Draft or the All-Star game, or other international events?
Robert Hayes: The short answer would be: I certainly hope so. What we see is there’s an opportunity to do things for Calgary and Edmonton. If there’s something that is of an international magnitude like this, I’d love to think that Stew [MacDonald, CEO of OEG] and I could put our hands together. Our owners would say it’s the right thing to do, just like it was in this particular case. But I also believe that there should be opportunities for Calgary with Scotia Place. And I would like to think that the province and the city would want us to pursue those and hopefully step up at some point in time.
Karim Kurji: On Scotia Place, what’s your favourite part of the new arena? What do you think is really going to set it apart? What are we as fans going to really love about it?
Robert Hayes: These are two things that you’re really gonna love about Scotia. First, you’re gonna love how much room you have. You’re now going to have a concourse level for the lower bowl for seven to nine thousand people, and a concourse level for the upper bowl for five to six thousand people, and it’ll be a standalone Suite level, which will have room. So, from a room perspective and from a washroom perspective – make sure you print this because we’ve all heard about Edmonton and the washrooms. Everybody’d be happy with different washrooms. Until we’re in game six Stanley Cup Final when we’re about to win it, and we’re up five to two going to the third period. That’s where you’re gonna have to line up the washroom when the second period ends. But everybody will be happy about that one.
The second thing that people are going to really appreciate is the sight line aspect of the building itself. The last time that I toured the building, I sat where the first row was going to be in that second bowl. They had a pylon at Center ice and it’s just spectacular how close you feel to the action The stadium is going to be much closer to the ice from a a vertical perspective, and I think that’s going to make it incredibly hard for other teams to play in because of the noise factor, but it’s going to make it such a an exciting atmosphere from a fan perspective to go to.
Right now, in the Saddledome, there are approximately 3000 seats that are very difficult to utilize, particularly during concerts, and they’re not the best sight lines for hockey. That’s the reason we have TVs for people to look at up there. Now, you can watch from your seats, so those will be eliminated. All of a sudden, you have every seat that has an unobstructed, perfect view of centre ice. And, you’re gonna be closer. We’ve got the engineers do all the geometry, and you are physically closer. That’s a fact.
Karim Kurji: I know that it’s going to be a spectacle for those in the arena. Will there be opportunities for fans to engage in the tournament beyond having tickets to events in the arena? Will there be watch parties or Fan Fest-related things for all the people who are going to come from around the world? Is that something that CSEC is going to be working on, or is that going to be in the hands of local businesses?
Robert Hayes: We’re working in conjunction with our partners from Tourism Calgary and Calgary Expedition & Stampede. We have, of course, the new convention Center, so we want to have a festival-like atmosphere. The activation outside is exactly as you described. There will be a whole section on the south side that is going to be the gathering area. People could gather outside and picture a giant video board that goes the length of the entire stadium, and the whole Community Arena area will be a great space as well. When the Saddledome comes down, all of a sudden, you’ve got a level area from Scotia Place over to the Convention Center, right through the South area, all the way through Stampede. So it’s ripe for what you said at the beginning: new opportunities that we can do from a national and international perspective.
Karim Kurji: Do you have any comments on the direction of the Flames as a team? Do you think that there’s a timeline here to become a legit Cup Contender down the road?
Robert Hayes: I would say you’re better off, probably reaching out to Craig Conroy for the specifics on that because he’s more directly involved than I will ever be directly involved with that. I know what’s going on, but Craig is the one who makes those difficult decisions.
I think the future is bright. We have some incredible young players. The veterans that have remained with the team, I think, are really, really impactful veterans that can show those young players what it takes to play and win, ultimately, in the NHL and who knows what it’s going to look like in the future, because we have an awful lot of draft picks.
I’m excited about what it’s going to look like in, pick your time frame: one, two, three, five years down the road.
Takeaways from the discussion with Robert Hayes
By all accounts, this is a huge win for Calgary, the Flames, and Alberta. The new Scotia Place arena will be world-class and perhaps one of the best arenas in the NHL. And that means Calgary will almost certainly be in the running to host other major events in the future.
It’s great to see such a positive collaboration between Calgary and Edmonton. While Calgary doesn’t get the games with the highest stakes, they’ll have more games and are likely going to get a Canada vs. USA game. It’s going to be a ton of fun.
Thanks to Robert Hayes and CSEC for the opportunity to chat yesterday about the process and upcoming event.
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