NEW YORK, New York – NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has announced that the league will add four new teams as early as 2027 and that all of them are overseas, in hot-weather climates. According to Bettman, the new Global Division will consist of the Dubai Dynamos, the Madrid Matadores, the Rome Gladiators, and the Riyadh Royals. “We’re looking to grow the game globally,” Bettman said, “and what better way than to incorporate players from other countries? Look, we’ve been moving into warmer climates since the ‘90s, so this is a natural extension of that outward-looking vision.”

Stadiums in those places are taking shape:

  • Plans are underway in Rome for the Colosseum Ice Palace, where they close the ancient ruin at night and turn it into an ice rink, echoing the mock naval battles of imperial times.
  • Dubai is envisioning the Burj Al Hockey Arena, a gleaming tower that will be the world’s tallest ice hockey rink and, at other times, be one more really tall hotel.
  • Fans in Saudi Arabia will attend games at Vision 2030 Arena, which will have built-in air conditioning in every seat and a zamboni that runs on premiun unleaded.
  • The lowest profile element will be in Madrid, where workers will convert a section of Real Madrid’s soccer stadium into an ice palace. 

Unlike the existing 32 teams in the National Hockey League, all of which play a season consisting of 82 games, the new teams will start out contesting 41 games, or the equivalent of half an NHL season, playing each of the other three teams in their division 11 times and then flying to North America to play four games in Canada and four games in the U.S. Specifically, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs will be the hosts for the four Global Division teams for a twofer, and then the international trip will end with two games each against the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The kicker is that the Global Division that finishes with the best record earns a round in the NHL playoffs, as one of the 16-team scrum that traditionally ends the grueling season on ice.

Ticket sales in three of the four new cities were brisk, with Madrid fans waiting a bit to see what happened in Real Madrid’s latest tilt against Barcelona. 

As to whether the NHL would change its name to reflect the locations of the new teams, Bettman said, “Why? We already have two nations represented.”