New Year's Day not only brought the 2020 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, but it also brought news of which team and venue would host next year's event. That honor will go to the State of Hockey, as the Minnesota Wild will host their first Winter Classic at Target Field in Minneapolis.
The 2021 Winter Classic will be the 13th installment of the NHL's annual New Year's Day outdoor game and the 31st NHL regular-season outdoor game overall. The Wild have not played in the Winter Classic but they did host a Stadium Series outdoor game against the Chicago Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota in 2016.
Oh, how classic!
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 1, 2020
NEWS: The 2021 Bridgestone @NHL #WinterClassic will feature the #mnwild on January 1, 2021, outdoors at Target Field (home of the Minnesota @Twins) in Minneapolis, MN.
More information: https://t.co/0nNUNYSKU2 pic.twitter.com/6yQG0ofBsv
"The Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic is about taking hockey back to its outdoor roots - and there is no better place to celebrate the incredible strength surrounding our game than in Minnesota," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a league release. "The Minnesota Wild organization and their fans in the Twin Cities and across the state have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to host the NHL's New Year's showcase and we are thrilled to be bringing next year's game to Target Field."
It seems a bit overdue for Minnesota to get a Winter Classic, which is one of the marquee events on the NHL's regular season calendar, and the market has clamored for the opportunity for quite a few years. Now, they're finally getting one at the home of the Minnesota Twins.
Target Field opened in 2010 and has a listed capacity of 39,504. It will be the seventh MLB stadium to host the event, following Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Citizens Bank Park, Nationals Park, Busch Stadium and Citi Field.
The Wild's opponent has yet to be decided.
