SportsHockeyFlames

Gary Bettman coming to Calgary and the World Cup of Hockey might be too

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Mar 2 2026, 4:33 pm
Gary Bettman coming to Calgary and the World Cup of Hockey might be too
City of Calgary

New arenas mean new opportunities.

That appears to be the case for Calgary, as the city is reportedly on a short list of suitors to serve as a host for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. This had been reported on back in October by TSN’s Darren Dreger, and was reiterated this weekend by Sportsnet’s Eric Francis during a Calgary Flames broadcast.

“Gary Bettman and his right-hand man Bill Daly are flying into Calgary tomorrow for a site visit of Scotia Place,” Francis said. “They want to sit down with ownership and get a state of the nation. Bill Daly just confirmed that in two weeks’ time, they’re going to announce who is going to host the World Cup of Hockey.

“Calgary is one of the few cities left out of 25 on a very short list of potential hosts for the four teams that will play in North America.”

The 2028 World Cup of Hockey is scheduled to take place in February. There will be eight teams competing, with four first getting things underway in Europe, while the other four will begin at the selected North American host city. Daly confirmed back in September that the semi-final and final will both be played in North America.

Seeing Calgary being considered as a strong contender is a good reminder of what a new arena can bring in. This type of opportunity would never have presented itself with the Saddledome, but that won’t be the case for Scotia Place.

Scotia Place began being built during the summer of 2024 and has made rapid progress ever since. The building is expected to be ready to rock for the 2027-28 season, making Calgary such a strong suitor to host some best-on-best hockey.

ADVERTISEMENT