A structured, multi-year commitment to Germany marks the NHL’s most substantive European market push to date, extending five consecutive seasons of continental regular-season play into a named national growth strategy.
The National Hockey League (NHL) and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) have announced a long-term strategy to expand the league’s presence in Germany, anchored by a commitment to stage regular-season games there for at least the next three consecutive years.
The programme launches with the 2026 NHL Global Series Germany, a double-header between the Ottawa Senators and the Chicago Blackhawks in Düsseldorf on Dec. 18 and Dec. 20. Alongside the on-ice component, the strategy encompasses grassroots development, content production, fan engagement initiatives and the formation of new long-term commercial partnerships in the market.
The plan was unveiled at a press conference in Düsseldorf on March 13, attended by NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, NHLPA Senior Director of International Strategy & Growth Rob Zepp – a former German national team player – NHL Business President Keith Wachtel and Düsseldorf Mayor Stephan Keller.
A 15-year gap, now a structured commitment
The December fixtures will be only the second and third regular-season NHL games ever played on German soil. The first was staged on Oct. 8, 2011, when the Buffalo Sabres faced the Los Angeles Kings in Berlin – a 15-year interval the league is now moving to close with recurring presence rather than one-off events.
The 2026 series forms part of the NHL’s broader European programme, which enters its 13th season overall and fifth consecutive year of continent-wide regular-season fixtures. The league opened its first European office in Zurich last summer, reflecting a more institutionalised approach to international market development.
Industry context: why Germany matters
Germany represents a commercially significant target for North American sports leagues looking to diversify revenues and fan bases beyond their domestic markets. The country has an established ice hockey culture through its top-tier Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) and a demonstrated appetite for high-profile imported competitions, as seen with the NFL’s longstanding Frankfurt and Munich franchise in its International Series programme. The NHL’s multi-year structure – rather than a single showcase event – signals a move toward the kind of sustained market-building that has underpinned the NFL’s European growth model.
Zepp’s involvement as a former German international player and current NHLPA strategy executive adds a player-community dimension to the initiative, consistent with the NHLPA’s broader international growth mandate.
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The National Hockey League is the top professional ice hockey league in North America, comprising 32 franchises across the US and Canada. The NHL Players’ Association represents the league’s professional players and holds a co-governance role in international league development.
