The NHL is reportedly planning to play regular season games in Australia as early as this year.

A report from US hockey writer David Pagnotta states “it’s all but a lock” games will be played down under to open the 2023-24 season, which would be around October.

The Boston Bruins and LA Kings were reported as potential teams making the trip while other west coast sides like the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks would also make sense to reduce some of the travel load.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nhl/nhl-2023-australia-to-host-nhl-games-in-202324-season-per-report-which-teams-where-would-it-be-played-ice-hockey-latest-news/news-story/748ea7dd76421c4dc0315dc892295f31

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I was going to start a thread on another topic, but since I follow the NHL I will post it here.

I'm surprised that there is no thread on what is going on with the Regional Sports Networks in the US. This affects not only the NHL, but the NBA and MLB.

Bally Sports has filed for bankruptcy which affects 12 teams in the NHL. Now the news is another RSN is getting out of the business which affects another 3 teams in the NHL.

I was going to start a thread on another topic, but since I follow the NHL I will post it here.

I'm surprised that there is no thread on what is going on with the Regional Sports Networks in the US. This affects not only the NHL, but the NBA and MLB.

Bally Sports has filed for bankruptcy which affects 12 teams in the NHL. Now the news is another RSN is getting out of the business which affects another 3 teams in the NHL.

I found this. Definitely something to keep an eye on….

No RSN panic … yet (https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2023/02/27/Upfront/regional-sports-networks.aspx)

Anything to grow the game is good. I think there's been a few players born in Australia or who grew up there. They are more known for field hockey than ice hockey.

I watched the Hurricanes and Predators on the two regional Bally Sports channels when I had cable. YouTube TV doesn't carry them or the NHL Network. They also recently dropped the MLB Network. I will probably go back to cable in a few months when my discount expires if they can drastically reduce the bill. It will be interesting to see what happens with Bally Sports. It seems like they want to be exclusive to cable or certain services, which hurts their number of subscribers.

The time has come. 2 preseason games, starting tonight, LA-Arizona.


>>>The Kings and Coyotes will play two preseason games at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday and Sunday in the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Melbourne, the first NHL event in the Southern Hemisphere.

The games will start at 12 a.m. ET and air on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the United States; Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ in Canada; and 9Go, 9Now, ESPN and the ESPN App in Australia.<<<

https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-global-series/kings-rod-laver-arena-global-series-practice#:~:text=The%20games%20will%20start%20at,the%20ESPN%20App%20in%20Australia.

Here’s a piece on how it went

Breaking ice Down Under: NHL's southern hemisphere debut thrills Aussie fans (https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38476818/nhl-global-series-breaking-ice-nhl-southern-hemisphere-debut-thrills-australian-fans)