Jan. 1 outside video game anticipated to be ‘among our finest ones ever’
© Christopher Mast/NHLI by means of Getty Image
By Derek Van Diest
@DerekVanDiest NHL.com Staff Writer
December 22, 2023
Steve Mayer thinks the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic in between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights will rank amongst among the very best outside video games of all-time.
The primary material officer at the NHL stated he can feel the buzz in Seattle, where the Kraken will host the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park on Jan. 1 (3 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, truTV, SN, TVAS).
“We’re going to be offered out once again, the buzz is insane in the town, and whatever about it is simply exceptional,” Mayer stated Thursday. “This is a terrific one. I believe it’s so distinct in the 2 groups that are playing and I’m actually eagerly anticipating it. I believe it’ll be among our finest ones ever.”
The Kraken will be playing in their very first outside video game in their 3rd NHL season. Mayer stated among the objectives of the video game is to display the city of Seattle and promote a few of its renowned landmarks.
“Wherever we enter any of these outside video games, we wish to make it where any fan enjoying, no matter where they reside in North America and around the globe, that they understand right away that we’re transmitting from Seattle,” Mayer stated. “The idea procedure constantly begins with the city you’re in and what makes the city special and why we’re here.”
© Christopher Mast/NHLI by means of Getty Images
Seattle invited the Kraken’s arrival and supported the group from the opening drop of the puck. The Kraken received the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their 2nd season, getting rid of the protecting 2022 Stanley Cup champ Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference First Round. Seattle lost to the Dallas Stars in 7 video games in the 2nd round.
Mayer stated the tv broadcast will integrate a number of the well-known Seattle landmarks such as the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and The Seattle Great Wheel, a huge Ferris wheel situated on Pier 57.
“We wish to lean into the story of a brand-new franchise that represents the League and what the League is everything about,” Mayer stated. “The charm of the Kraken and the Golden Knights is how they’ve developed themselves; their fan bases are enthusiastic and wild, they’ve done so well, they brought hockey to locations that didn’t have it before. This states whatever that you require to understand about the NHL. And to lean into the environment here, the water, the boating, where it’s situated, the Pacific Northwest, all those things are available in to play when you’re producing what this has to do with.”
Playing the video game at T-Mobile Park, the home of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners, likewise provides Mayer and his personnel a special chance changing the arena into a hockey location.