REPORT: NHL to Hold Stadium Series Game at Ohio Stadium in 2025
The National Hockey League is coming to Ohio State.
On Thursday, The Athletic reported the NHL will play its annual Stadium Series game at the home of Buckeyes football: Ohio Stadium.
The Athletic's source also provided details for the game, saying it will feature the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings. According to the report, a date for the contest has been set for March 1, 2025.
Rumors of the NHL playing an outdoor game at Ohio Stadium are not new. Discussions have been taking place over the last couple of years between league commissioner Gary Bettman and Buckeyes athletic director Gene Smith.
Smith was asked about the potential for Ohio Stadium to host a Stadium Series game following reports that he had met with Bettman on campus earlier that day. The outgoing AD excited Blue Jackets and Buckeyes fans alike with his witty response.
"We got a chance," Smith said. "Now we just have to put the puck in the net."
It should be said that the news of a game at Ohio Stadium has not yet been confirmed by Bettman or anyone within the NHL.
However, reports say an official announcement will be made this Saturday, February 17 during the NHL's 2024 Stadium Series game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils.
Should the game indeed come to fruition, the game would mark the second time in the last three years that Ohio State has been involved with professional hockey.
On February 16, 2023, the Buckeyes men's hockey team played the Michigan Wolverines at the "Faceoff on the Lake" inside FirstEnergy Stadium (now called "Cleveland Browns Stadium) in Cleveland, Ohio.
The game was part of a weekend of contests that culminated in a meeting between the American Hockey League's Cleveland Monsters and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.