After an eight-year break, the World Cup of Hockey is set to return in 2024. The NHL is planning an increase – and possibly even hosting on European soil.
Canada’s Sidney Crosby with the trophy after winning the World Cup of Hockey against Europe in 2016.
The last World Cup of Hockey was held in Toronto in autumn 2016. In addition to the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014, it was the best international tournament in sporting terms in the last decade – the game in the NHL was suspended, these were the only two events with the top players in the world. In a best-of-3 series, Canada won the title in the final against Team Europe; superstar Sidney Crosby was voted Most Valuable Player.
Canada’s Jonathan Toews (left) against Roman Josi of Team Europe, at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
The European selection included four Swiss players, Roman Josi, Nino Niederreiter, Mark Streit and Luca Sbisa. She was coached by long-time Swiss national coach Ralph Krueger. So well-trained was Krueger’s squad that he soon landed a job in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabers, revealing just how attractive the World Cup stage can be. Krueger, 62, who lives in Davos, is charmed by the Italians who have just been relegated to Group B at the World Cup. These have the financial means to provide a competitive team at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan.
Nino Niederreiter in Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey in September 2016 in Toronto.
Swiss defender Mark Streit played for Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto.
The NHL is trying to open up new markets
Italy will not be at the next World Cup. But Switzerland does. The NHL, which acts as organizer, is planning to hold the Olympic Games every four years, initially for 2024 and 2028. And an increase to eight teams. The game is scheduled to be played in February, with a possible European qualifying phase in August. It is possible that the tournament will even be held on European soil – the NHL is making great efforts to open up new markets, not least because it has continued to lose ground in North America, for example to the prosperous Major League Soccer. In 2016 in Toronto, the World Cup generated a profit of almost 40 million dollars.
A comeback of the World Cup in this new form would have far-reaching consequences. It would undoubtedly further weaken and devalue the annual World Cup, which is of particular concern to the marketer Infront, which has just extended the contract with the world association IIHF by ten years and CHF 500 million until 2033. Business has collapsed anyway with the exclusion of Russia and Belarus – Infront generates almost half of the World Cup income with TV and sponsorship income from these two nations.
The World Cup would make the search for partners even more difficult, which would also be felt by the Champions Hockey League, which is marketed by Infront and is already on shaky ground in terms of acceptance. The question is how many appointments and events there may be in ice hockey: for the players and for sponsorship.
As during the Olympic Games, the Swiss championship is threatened with an interruption
The National League would also be affected. In the current season, 13 Swiss players were employed in the NHL. That means: Around half of the squad would have to be made up of players from the domestic championship. In addition, there would be possible assignments of foreigners to other nations. It is possible that the championship would then be interrupted in the same way as during the Olympic Games.
There are still many details to be clarified, especially in terms of duration and mode; heated discussions also flared up behind the scenes during the World Cup in Finland. It seems clear that the World Cup would be an asset in purely sporting terms, and certainly also financially for the NHL. The only question is who will pay the price for it.