Could The NHL Winter Classic Be Coming To Philly?

Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field is a “front-runner” to land the 2012 Winter Classic, according to the CBC’s Pierre LeBrun. 

Monday's SportsBusiness Daily linked to several stories about the Classic.

The NHL “prefers the NFL stadium model compared to the baseball stadium because there’s more seating (and) better line sights.” The Colorado Avalanche also are “interested and have a shot” at hosting the game. The Minnesota Wild repeatedly have expressed their desire to host the game, but the league does not “see the Wild as a very sexy team to have in the game.” 

The CBC’s Glenn Healy noted several things need to happen before the location of the ’12 Winter Classic is decided, including the “quest for a major U.S. TV deal.” The FCC is scheduled to approve the NBC/Comcast merger later this month, and the NHL is the “number one property in sports up first” after the merger. However, if ESPN signs a broadcast deal with the league, they “might not even want a New Year’s Day game to go up against some of their bowl games.” 

Healy: “If NBC gets it, they love January 1. A lot has to happen before the next spot is picked.”

Comcast-Spectacor President & COO Peter Luukko on Sunday told the Daily News that the Flyers had "not yet been contacted by the NHL." But he added, "We would certainly like to play a game in Philly next year or in the future." 

The paper's Frank Seravalli wrotes that "it seems to make sense that the NHL could be interested in the Flyers to host their next premier regular-season game: The Flyers are a successful, big-market team with a supportive fan base; they produce record ratings on television; the NHL prefers football stadiums to baseball venues; and weather has proven to not be the ultimate obstacle." 

Philadelphia Sports Congress Executive Director Larry Needle: "We'd be high on their list, a tremendous market to host an event like that. We would do whatever we could to pull it all together."