The state of Florida will host two outdoor games during the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season according to nhl.com. One game will be played in Tampa Bay, and one game will be played in Miami.
Florida Panthers will host the 2026 Winter Classic
The Panthers will host the New York Rangers on January 2, 2026 at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. The stadium is the regular host of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. It has a retractable roof and has a capacity of 36,742. It will be interesting to see if the NHL will be able to increase the seating capacity for the game. In 2017, a total of 37, 446 spectators saw the Dominican Republic beat the United States during Pool C action at the World Baseball Classic. It was quite the comeback for the Dominican Republic as they were trailing the Americans 5-0 in the sixth inning.
This will be the second Winter Classic held in a stadium with a retractable roof. The first was at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, as the Seattle Kraken blanked the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on a shutout by Joey Daccord of North Andover, Massachusetts in 2024.
This will be the sixth outdoor game for the New York Rangers. They have previously played in three Stadium Series games and this will be their third Winter Classic. While the Panthers are second in the Atlantic Division this season, it has simply been a horrendous season for the Rangers. At the beginning of the year, they were expected to be Stanley Cup contenders. Now they are four points back the Columbus Blue Jackets for a playoff spot.
Tampa Bay Lightning will host the 2026 Stadium Series
The Lightning will host the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on February 1 in Tampa, Florida with a capacity crowd of 69,218. The stadium hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. Tampa Bay previously beat the Nashville Predators at the 2022 Stadium Series in Tennessee. The Bruins have played four Winter Classics, but this will be their first Stadium Series game.
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