NHL's Gary Bettman Talks World Cup Plans After Success of 4 Nations Face-Off

Following the massive success of the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, the NHL has announced a World Cup of Hockey to take place in 2028.

Commissioner Gary Bettman discussed the plans for the tournament, which will feature at least eight teams, on The Rich Eisen Show:

“The 4 Nations was kind of a quick appetizer,” Bettman said. “What we’re going to do is Olympics, two years later a World Cup, two years later Olympics, two years later a World Cup and the World Cup, will have at least eight countries participating and that’s something that we’re in the process of finalizing.”

Despite the overwhelming success of the 4 Nations Face-Off—it culminated in a Canada vs. United States final that became the second-most-watched hockey game in the past decade with 16.1 million viewers in North America, per NHL.com—Bettman remains committed to his original plan of incorporating more teams into future tournaments.

“We’re looking to do a full World Cup like you see in soccer. We're going to look to do it in a variety of locations, and not just in North America, we’re going to do it in Europe as well,” Bettman said. “The success has been so overwhelming, we’ve got a lot of things to consider and sort out, including what our own All-Star game looks like moving forward.”

In 2024, the NHL All-Star Game used a more traditional format, featuring a skills competition and a draft that split all 44 All-Stars into teams.  

Given the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off and the passion each player brought to the tournament, it might be tough to return to the traditional format in the future.

Passion erupted with three fights in the first nine seconds of play during the Feb. 15 game between the U.S. and Canada.

"We needed to send a message," said Team USA winger Matthew Tkachuk, per People’s Sam Gillette, after engaging in a fight with Canada’s Brandon Hagel during the opening faceoff. "The message we wanted to send is 'It's our time.'"

Following the fights, Bettman acknowledged the intensity of the games and the heightened competition that ensued.

“This is the real thing,” Bettman said. “There wasn't any doubt that the passions were high, people came to play and while we try to stay out of as I said geopolitical issues, there was a little bit of an overlay on that between the great neighbors and allies of Canada and the U.S., so I think it all came together.”

With the 2026 Winter Olympics set to take place from Feb. 6-22 during the next NHL season, the league has plenty of time to determine its approach for the 2028 World Cup.