Is Choosing the Same Teams for Outdoor Games Over and Over Good for the NHL?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gary Bettman teetered between overly defensive and needlessly offensive when he was discussing the Winter Classic on the stage Saturday afternoon at Nationwide Arena.

Before announcing the three-game outdoor slate for the 2015-16 season, Bettman attempted to get in front of something that, in a way, was already behind him.

"I know some of you think that these games have some dilutive effect," Bettman said to the assembled media. "If you’ve been to one, you know that’s not the case. The impact that these games have for the people who actually attend them in the markets in which they take place is nothing short of staggering."

Bettman is right, but he's also missing a point.

How can fans and markets feel that "staggering" impact if it's always the same teams playing in outdoor games year after year?

The 2016 Winter Classic will be between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, while the Stadium Series contests will pit the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche at Coors Field in Denver.

Of those six teams, three have played in outdoor games. Newcomer cities Denver and Minneapolis will host games, which is swell, but this will be Chicago's third outdoor game in two years, Detroit's third overall and second in three years and Boston's second home Winter Classic contest.

Bill Smith/Getty Images

The Blackhawks have played three fewer outdoor games (four) than the Toronto Maple Leafs have played postseason games (seven) since 2009.

"I just think we’re probably a marketable team," Patrick Kane said.

And there's nothing wrong with any of that.

The issue is the Winter Classic was hatched to be this national event for a league that tends to be extremely regionalized. The Winter Classic would be the event that bridged all fanbases and got them to watch a once-a-year spectacle between two teams that the other 28 fanbases wouldn't care about if they were on fire in front of them.

The year's game between the Blackhawks and Capitals, the seventh edition of the Winter Classic, had the lowest ratings in the history event.

Locally, the game did very well. Nationals Park was packed, and the ratings locally were outstanding.

The NHL may be accepting that outdoor games will never be more than local hits, but spinning that into the idea that all these other outdoor games haven't diluted the original product is disingenuous.

"They’re a national draw, and they get a great deal of attention," Bettman said of the Blackhawks, "and obviously they are very talented and entertaining and exciting team, and we thank the Blackhawks for their willingness to participate."

It's awfully nice of the Blackhawks, being willing to promote the team in the best way possible, on national television in a marquee event.

But that's the part where the league can't have it both ways: This is either a throwback game that allows fans to relive their youth days, or it's a game for only a select group of teams with a heavy following that can generate the ratings that allow the league to generate more revenue than if, say, Arizona played Florida on New Year's Day.

And, again, that's all wonderful. Use the Blackhawks every year.

But let's not pretend that, as successful as outdoor games have been locally, the Winter Classic hasn't blossomed into a must-see national event since the first game in 2008 because of all the other outdoor games that have been played (and also aired on national television) in recent years. The games have been diluted nationally but will likely always remain strong in the markets in which they are played.

That just means if you're Dallas or Tampa Bay or St. Louis or Nashville, you're probably going to have to wait for the Blackhawks to fit you into their outdoor schedule before you ever get to host a game.

All statistics via NHL.com and Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.