Board of Governors meeting roundup: 16 cities in running for 2028 World Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — While the NHL waits for progress to be made on the arenas being built to host Olympic hockey in Milan this coming February, it is moving towards a decision on host cities for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.

“We’re down to 10 North American cities, and six cities in Europe” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly after the NHL Board of Governors meetings wrapped Tuesday.

An announcement is expected “probably after the Olympics,” added commissioner Gary Bettman.

Daly confirmed the format has already been decided, with some of the European participants making up one pool in one European city while the other teams will be hosted in one North American city. The semifinal and final will then be played in the North American city.

Sources said Las Vegas, Boston and Montreal were all among original bidders, while Daly couldn’t say whether any of them remain in contention to host the tournament.

On Boston and Montreal, which hosted the highly-successful 4 Nations Face-Off in February of 2025, Bettman said, “Obviously we’re aware of how well both cities supported the event.”

“But lots of cities are interested,” he added.

Several will be in contention for future World Cups as well, with the NHL and NHLPA announcing at the 4 Nations Face-Off that they’re committed to a regular cycle of alternating every two years between this tournament and the Olympics through at least 2032.

Eight nations, which are yet to be confirmed, will participate in 2028. And they’ll play those games on NHL-sized surfaces.

Daly expressed optimism Monday that NHLers will square off with their respective nations at the 2026 Olympics, despite mounting concerns over the shorter dimensions and quality of the ice as well as lagging construction at both Milan arenas.

“They’re moving towards their goal,” said Daly. “There doesn’t seem to be anything insurmountable in getting to completion.”

NHL revenue projections on target

Bettman said the league updated the governors that hockey-related revenue (HRR) is expected to be north of $6.8 billion this season.

When asked if there’s potential for the salary cap, which is expected to go from $95 million this season to $104 million next season, to be set higher, Bettman responded, “No.”

The commissioner said on multiple occasions over the last year that a gradual scale up — from $95 million in 2025-26 to $104 million in 2026-27 and $113 million in 2027-28 million — would be in the best interest of both the owners and the players, who split HRR evenly.

Should the HRR projection remain on track, it’ll come in slightly above what the cap for this season accounts for, which will amount to a “top up” of player salaries, Daly confirmed.

No escrow is currently being withheld from the players.

Other items on BOG agenda

• After hearing from USA Hockey on Monday, the league and the governors were given a presentation from the United States Hockey League about their concerns over how the changing landscape in junior/college hockey is affecting them.

Recent adjustments to the system have made it possible for Canadian Hockey League players to transfer to U.S. colleges, where they were previously ineligible to play after receiving stipends to play in the CHL. The change has opened more opportunity for USHL players to play in the CHL, hence the USHL’s concern.

That concern could potentially be mitigated down the line by the creation of one major junior super league spanning both Canada and the United States.

That’ll be something to monitor moving forward.

• Rules revolving around gambling were reviewed this week in the wake of the recent NBA scandal.

“The fact is our people do know, and there have been tons of debriefs on what you can and can’t do, not just on gambling on hockey, but with respect to: if you’re going to gamble, to do it legally. And you need to make sure you’re in compliance with the rules,” said Bettman. “You can’t share accounts, do it from out of jurisdiction, and if you’re approached by anybody seeking to get information or have you do things, you need to report it to us so that we can take the appropriate response. I think if you want to focus on what we do with respect to ensuring that we get compliance, we’re monitoring data points in every game in real time in every game that goes on, and we do the same thing with our betting partners and our prediction market partners to make sure that there are no unexplainable shifts. And when you pair that with the data that’s going on in the game, you can’t do this and get away with it.

“And so, I think that’s an important thing for everybody to know. Not that you should do it anyway or try to get away with it; the integrity of the game is too important.”

• A location for the 2026 NHL Draft has yet to be confirmed.

“Nothing we’re prepared to announce yet,” said Bettman. “It’s something that’s being worked on, which, in terms of the timing, isn’t that big an issue since it’s going to be a remote draft again, and so the number of people travelling in will be dramatically less.”

• After games involving both Florida teams featured debatable calls/non-calls for hand passes resulting in goals, Bettman was asked if there’s any appetite from the league to amend Rule 79.

“1,312 games, how many thousands of calls and non-calls? Two situations, as you call them, does not a situation make,” he responded. “We’ll look at it long-term, and if necessary, we’ll review it with the general managers in March.”

• Expansion remains on the backburner, despite expressions of interest from groups in Houston, Atlanta and Quebec.

-With partnerships between the league and U.S. television providers ESPN and TNT set to expire in 2028, Bettman was also asked about the future U.S. television rights deal.

With both Paramount and Netflix currently bidding against each other to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, the landscape could see a dramatic shift.

“We’re going to have to wait to see how this plays out,” said Bettman. “And we have this season and two other ones to see how the landscape develops.”