NHL Spends Big Money To Book Sphere For Upcoming Draft

The 2024 NHL Draft is set to make history. The upcoming draft will take center stage at the spectacular Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28/29. The move to hold the draft was officially confirmed by the NHL Board of Governors on Tuesday. This marks the final draft before the league undergoes decentralization, adding significance to the event. At the same time, insiders are saying this cost the league a lot of money.

This cost the league a lot of ? https://t.co/5bpaposn58

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 5, 2023

The Sphere, an extraordinary $2.3-billion is a 18,600-seat music and entertainment arena situated just off the iconic Las Vegas strip. Renowned for its cutting-edge audio and video technologies, including a wraparound LED screen and 4D physical effects, the venue is something else. It promises a unique and immersive experience for all attendees. There’s no doubt it’s a cool way to say goodbye to the centralized draft system. Still, many are calling the decision unnecessary.

First, this decision breaks an 18-year tradition of holding the NHL Draft exclusively in arenas. While the 2020 and 2021 drafts were conducted virtually, the last non-arena draft occurred in 2005. It was there the Pittsburgh Penguins landed Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick. Considering the draft isn’t about the spectacle of the arena itself, but is more about the journey for young players getting to the NHL, it’s worth asking what the point of going all out is. And, could the environment potentially take away from the business at hand for 32 NHL GMs.

The NHL Just Spent Huge Money to Book The Sphere

Acknowledging the substantial financial commitment, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman revealed at the Board of Governors meeting that the league is finalizing plans to confirm their booking at The Sphere. With a projected revenue of $6.2 billion and a modest 2024-25 salary cap set at $87.7 million, one has to wonder if the revenues the NHL is spending here could have been used in other ways.

Others say the two things are not linked. Booking such an expensive venue doesn’t trickle down to the salary cap level.

Beyond the unique venue, the 2024 Draft promises an impressive talent pool. Prospects like Macklin Celebrini from Boston University, Cole Eiserman of the U.S. National Team Development Program, and SKA St. Petersburg’s Ivan Demidov are among the exciting players anticipated to be part of this historic draft in Sin City.

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