NHL chooses Las Vegas for draft, will plan 'dramatic' event - ESPN

SEATTLE — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday that the 2024 NHL draft will be held in Las Vegas and the league is finalizing plans to hold the event at the Sphere with the intent that it could also be the last centralized draft for the foreseeable future.

Bettman said having it at the Sphere, which has more than 18,000 seats, would make the NHL the first league to hold a sporting event at the facility. The auditorium, which has a wraparound LED interior and curved LED exterior, was featured along the race course of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.

Since the NHL draft started being held at NHL arenas in 1986, it will be just the third time the draft has been held at a non-NHL venue. The first occurrence was in 2005 — the first draft after the lockout when it was held at the Westin Hotel Ottawa. It also happened in 2020 and 2021 when the draft was held at the NHL Network studios in New Jersey because of the pandemic.

«I think it'll be a pretty well-viewed event both in terms of the draft itself and the use of the Sphere inside and outside using the globe,» Bettman said. «We think it'll be fun. We think it'll be dramatic and compelling.»

Bettman said going to a decentralized draft allows organizations the opportunity to work from their team facility rather than traveling. It's what teams did during the pandemic-affected drafts and it's also the same format the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball use for drafts.

Bettman said he liked the old format and felt «it had a charm to it,» before adding that the clubs felt it was time for a change.

«Families are going to be there, prospects are going to be there, we're all going to be there,» Bettman said. «But this gives the teams who thought it was important with more