With multiple reports that the 2025 NHL Winter Classic will be at Wrigley Field between the host Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, Adam Proteau breaks down why it's not a bad thing for the Hawks to get another outdoor game.

There’s an element in certain NHL fan groups that believes the league caters to certain high-value franchises. And those people are probably up in arms with the reports from the Chicago Sun-Times and The Athletic Tuesday that the Chicago Blackhawks will host the 2025 Winter Classic against the Blues – but we’re not one of those people. 

If you take a look at the macro picture when it comes to outdoor games, you can see where some folks would get frustrated with the number of times the Hawks have either hosted or participated in such an event, but from this writer’s perspective, the sense that Chicago is always in the mix is not well-founded.

Indeed, since the league began regularly staging outdoor games in 2008, Chicago itself has hosted an outdoor game just twice – once at Wrigley Field in 2009 and once at Soldier Field in 2014. We were in attendance at the Wrigley Field game, and as we said at the time, Chicago was terrific in terms of the reception for an outdoor game. 

Blackhawks fans have seen their team participate in six outdoor games in the Modern Era – three as the “away” team, two as the host team, and one game at Notre Dame Stadium, in which they were the de facto host. That gives them as many outdoor game appearances as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, and while it isn’t fair, there are still teams that haven’t made a single outdoor game appearance – Arizona, Columbus, and Florida – there are valid reasons why NHL brass haven’t gifted every market with an outdoor game.

When it comes to Arizona and Florida, the warm winter weather in those cities does not provide the environment necessary for a robust outdoor game experience. Yes, it’s true the NHL has given at least one outdoor game appearance to warm-weather markets, but the other factor under consideration for outdoor games is the number of fans of any one team that are willing to travel in large numbers to a cold-weather climate and at least be the visiting team in such an event. We’re not here to trample all over Coyotes, Panthers and Blue Jackets fans, but in a purely economic metric, there’s not enough meat on the bone to justify participation in an outdoor game.

Say what you will about the Hawks as an organization, but there’s no questioning the passion of their fans. They’re going to sell out Wrigley for a second time as an outdoor host, and gathering more than 40,000 people at that ballpark is no small feat. In the game at Soldier Field, the Hawks pulled in nearly 63,000 fans. There’s a guarantee, more or less, that the business of the outdoor game will take care of itself in Chicago, and NHL management can rest easy knowing the reception for the 2025 game will be just as positive as it’s been in the past.

As a national viewing experience, a Hawks/Blues outdoor game may not bring in massive TV ratings. However, if we’ve learned anything from more than 15 years of regular outdoor games, it’s that the local impact of the event is always terrific, and the local impact is the primary goal of every outdoor game. It helps grow the game at the grassroots level and celebrates the history of the franchises involved. And in Chicago’s case, a new outdoor game means rookie phenom Connor Bedard will get his first experience in an outdoor game. That will drive ratings at the local level and continue giving the Blackhawks a boost as they appeal to new generations of fans.

Outdoor games aren’t necessarily the most entertaining games the NHL has to offer, but as a spectacle, they’re as amazing as it gets. You can be mad that the league keeps coming back to the Hawks as part of this content, but you can’t say Chicago fans haven’t done their part to keep the league returning to town. The support is there, and that’s why, two, three or four years from now, we’ll probably see the Blackhawks be a visitor team in another outdoor game. Chicagoans love their NHL team, and the league rewards that love with high-profile events. It’s really that simple.