Alberta to contribute $15M for bid to host 2028 World Cup of Hockey

Gary Bettman to visit Calgary on Tuesday to scope out construction site for Scotia Place ahead of 2027-28 NHL season.

The World Cup of Hockey is returning in 2028 and Alberta hopes to host it.

The NHL says the excitement surrounding last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off convinced them to bring back the World Cup of Hockey.

Monday morning, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith confirmed the province has provided $15 million for the bid process.

If successful, games will be played in Calgary and Edmonton.

“It’s going to be, I think, the second most-watched sporting event in the world when it comes to hockey,” Smith said, “so we’re crossing our fingers and hoping that the NHL Players Association as well as the owners make a decision for the Calgary/Edmonton bid.”

Tourism Calgary has been working hard on the pitch. They believe hosting the event would be a huge economic boost for the city.

“This would genuinely bring visitors from all over the world to come and watch the highest level of best on best hockey,” said Tourism Calgary’s senior vice-president of sales Carson Akroyd. “You know when you start to talk about economic impact for this this would be enormous...this would be north of $200 million-type impact.”

Calgary mayor Jeromy Farkas said he’s meeting with Gary Bettman Tuesday night at the Flames game , where he hopes to get more details.

And the World Cup of Hockey may only be the start of huge events to come to town if Farkas gets his way.

“Calgary is at its best we’re hosting the world,” he said. “We have that Olympic legacy of being able to welcome the world, to be able to come here and compete in Calgary and as we think about the future prospect of hosting events like this, there’s a huge business case and a huge economic case to continue to lean into, not just for hockey but all other sorts of growth industries.

The international best-on-best tournament will take place in February 2028 and feature eight national hockey teams.

Bettman is scheduled to meet with the media Tuesday afternoon but the Flames say there will be no announcement at this time.

Matt Coronato and Zayne Parekh were at the Amazon Fulfillment Centre as part of a behind the scenes tour Monday, when they were asked about the possibility of Calgary co-hosting the showcase event as Scotia Place.

“The best-on-best hockey that we’ve seen recently has been so cool to watch so, I know it’s fresh on everyone’s mind and hopefully we get to see more of it soon,” Coronato said.

““Yeah, it’d be awesome,” Parekh said. “That new building is going to be pretty cool, so if they host the World Cup here hopefully I’ll get in to watch.”