IIHF World Championship 2026, 2027, 2028

[Botta]

Which countries that will host the iihf World championship until 2025 have already been decided.

By now three countries have sent letter of intent for the 2026, 2027 and 2028 tournament. Switzerland, Germany and Norway. Great Britain and Kazhakstand has also showed interest. Most likely the 2026 WC will go to Switzerland since their 2020 iihf was cancelled due to covid-19. Then as it is now it will probobaly be Germany or Norway in 2027 and 2028 or vice versa. Norway will also likely host a Junior WC or a Womens WC as "part of the deal".

Last time Norway hosted was in 1999. The lack of arenas with enoug capacity is the reason why Norway never have applied or hosted. Norway beeing the only stable division A team that havent hosted a championship. Now some interesting new projects will make this possible by 2027 or 2028 by cooperation between handball, icehockey and many other sports to build bigger multiarenas to host championships also in other sports.

Which arenas that will be used will be decided next month( 28 February 2021).
By now four arenas have been pointed out in Norway, and two arenas will be chosen next month(28 February 2021).

IIHF will decide the hosts for the tournaments on the yearls congress in may 2022 og 2023.

Oslo/Baerum: Telenor Arena: 15.000 spectators.-about 9 km west of city of Oslo
The shell for the arena is already established. The indoor football/soccer arena will be reconstructed into a multiarena same concept as Maddison Square Garden(Transforms from Basketball, Icehockey, Concert etc.). This will be the biggest indoor arena in northern europe that can be used for Icehockey. It will likely be finished by 2024. Under is a picture as handball arena, but it can be transformed into icehockey. A new metro line will also be built from downtown Oslo so transportation will be smooth

Trondheim- Trondheim spektrum: 9000 spectators
This is also a quite new multiarena that broke ground in 2019. It was used for the handball euro in 2020. By doing some technical upgrades this arena can also be used for icehockey. This is a concept picture under.

Lillehammer-Håkons Hall-10.000 spectators
This is today a multiarna that was used for the 1994 olympics and 1999 IIHF world championship.

Bergen- New byarena. 10.000 spectators.
This is a more uncertain project since construction start havent been decided yet. Anyway I think its cool that Norway will try to host the tournament again with the new arenas coming, what do you think?

I think Norway has a chance to get the WHC in 2027. My bet is that Oslo and Trondheim will be the chosen cities.

 

[vorky]

I doubt, Czechs will split WCH. Why? They have enough arenas to host it and take full financial profit. There is maybe one option, if they will do it. Some very important jubilee, like 100 years from something (input your idea).

More possible is the cooperation between Bratislava and Budapest.

I would just add. In reality, the Czech Republic has just two venues capable of hosting the IIHF Worlds (especially in future.) It is O2 Arena in Prague & Ostravar Arena in Ostrava. Possible the new venue in Brno, if they build it one day.

Regarding Vienna, they need to build a new venue. There are plans for it.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I would just add. In reality, the Czech Republic has just two venues capable of hosting the IIHF Worlds (especially in future.) It is O2 Arena in Prague & Ostravar Arena in Ostrava. Possible the new venue in Brno, if they build it one day.

Regarding Vienna, they need to build a new venue. There are plans for it.

Prague and Ostrava did a good job in 15

 

[vorky]

Prague and Ostrava did a good job in 15

Of course, they did. Especially Ostrava is a hockey city.

I just replied to another poster saying " they have enough arenas" but they do not have. They have just two venues. But it is enough to host the event.

 

[Fjorden]

I think Norway has a chance to get the WHC in 2027. My bet is that Oslo and Trondheim will be the chosen cities.

Yupp, I also think that Oslo/Baerum(15.000) will be chosen since they have the only arena with enough capacity to host the final. IIHF demands at least 12.000 for one arena and 8000 for the second arena.

Trondheim, Lillehammer or Bergen could be any. Since Bergen havent started construction over their new "byarena" I dont think it will be them. Lillehammer is a small town with only 25.000 inhabitants compared to Trondheim with about 200.000 inhabitants so more commercial potential in Trondheim. Trondheim is also lively place with lots of students and good nightlife so for travelling fans it more to do in Trondheim.
. But at the same time it is more tradition for icehockey in Lillehammer than in Trondheim.

I think then it is probobaly best to place Sweden, Russia and Czech Republic in Oslo since they come with the most travelling fans, and a lot of swedes live in Oslo. It is also very close to Sweden.

Then the Norway group in Trondheim/Lillehammer/Bergen with Canada and/or USA and hope they come with some of their biggest NHL names to fill up the arena.

 

[alko]

I just replied to another poster saying " they have enough arenas" but they do not have. They have just two venues. But it is enough to host the event.

Do they have enough?

 

[vorky]

Do they have enough?

If you mean by enough just two, then OK.

Generally, it is very sad that such a hockey country has just two such venues. On the other hand, Sweden & Finland are not much better with their facilities.

 

[tobu]

IIHF demands at least 12.000 for one arena and 8000 for the second arena.

I think they may have increased this recently. I remember reading an article interviewing someone from the Slovak hockey federation during the last championship in Bratislava where the federation representative said if Slovakia wants to host again in the future, it needs a 15K arena next time. So possibly this was upped to 15K + 10K.

 

[JabbaJabba]

Would be cool to see GB host a tournament and I hope that Norway gets a tournament soon.

 

[Botta]

I agree that the countries with the biggest fanbase should play in Oslo.
Hockey in Trondheim has at least as much tradition as Lillehammer. The oldest hockey team in the country is Rosenborg. There is no team in the Fjordkraftliga at the moment , but that can change. A new rink is being built this year and there will be built another one with two surfaces within 5-6 years.

 

[alko]

I think they may have increased this recently. I remember reading an article interviewing someone from the Slovak hockey federation during the last championship in Bratislava where the federation representative said if Slovakia wants to host again in the future, it needs a 15K arena next time. So possibly this was upped to 15K + 10K.

Exactly. Fasel said, arena in Kosice is now too small. Question is, what will the new IIHF President say. Maybe they will reconsider this.

Regarding to Slovakia, it is hard to buy such big arena. Cost are high and the maintenance too. If you look to it, it is not hard to build such arena. It is way harder not to go to red numbers after WCH ends.

 

[vorky]

Exactly. Fasel said, arena in Kosice is now too small. Question is, what will the new IIHF President say. Maybe they will reconsider this.

Regarding to Slovakia, it is hard to buy such big arena. Cost are high and the maintenance too. If you look to it, it is not hard to build such arena. It is way harder not to go to red numbers after WCH ends.

I do not see any reason why it should be reconsidered if there is such an approach. It is just a normal development to demand higher & higher standards (of infrastructure/venues) from countries wishing to host any kind of international event. We do not live in 1990 anymore when up to 8000 seat arena was an upper standard. I would wish all top European hockey leagues to come to the new standard - at least 10 000 seats. European club hockey would just benefit from it.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Would be cool to see GB host a tournament and I hope that Norway gets a tournament soon.

yeah wc 1999 and og 1994 where in norway, i liked those tournaments.

 

[BlizzardSloth]

We do not live in 1990 anymore when up to 8000 seat arena was an upper standard. I would wish all top European hockey leagues to come to the new standard - at least 10 000 seats. European club hockey would just benefit from it.

But that just doesn't make sense for every team. From a Swiss perspective, notably the most attended league after the NHL, there are teams who couldn't fill arenas that big. Towns/Villages like Ambri, Davos, and Langnau won't fill 10'000 seats. And I imagine it's the same for Swedish and Finnish towns like Leksand, Oskarshamn, and Rauma.

 

[vorky]

But that just doesn't make sense for every team. From a Swiss perspective, notably the most attended league after the NHL, there are teams who couldn't fill arenas that big. Towns/Villages like Ambri, Davos, and Langnau won't fill 10'000 seats. And I imagine it's the same for Swedish and Finnish towns like Leksand, Oskarshamn, and Rauma.

Agree with you, the teams you named do not need such venues. It is a matter of what you want. Do you want the European club hockey to be like it is now, so with smaller clubs from smaller towns (in top leagues - SHL, etc)? It is one way of development. But in this case, we need to realise that hockey in Europe will always be a marginal sport with a small amount of money. Even if there was functioning Champions Hockey League (now it is a death project).

Another way of development is to create leagues (plural) with clubs from bigger cities. Exactly what Fasel says. And they need bigger venues, which is reasonable. The KHL is the greatest example, the league will have the majority of venues over 10 000 seats in a couple of years. Here is just one objection that some clubs should build even bigger venues. In such cases, these bigger leagues could attract much more money to the game of hockey. Of course, even in this case, we need smaller clubs, but they should not play the elite level.

 

[Fjorden]

I think they may have increased this recently. I remember reading an article interviewing someone from the Slovak hockey federation during the last championship in Bratislava where the federation representative said if Slovakia wants to host again in the future, it needs a 15K arena next time. So possibly this was upped to 15K + 10K.

No doubt that the interst for this tournament is growing. I think the need for bigger arenas is beacause the host must have an economic surplus from hosting. Norway have not applied before now since the arenas here have been to small to make hosting economically feasible. Hosting with to small arenas will just mean a cost for the host. If they require 15.000 minimum big hockeynations like Finland and Sweden will be disqualified from hosting. It is not many arenas with 15k+ capacity in Europe.

Her is what I found in IIHF bif regulation document: "For the hosting of the WM, the capacity of the main arena must be 10,000 seats at absolute minimum with one secondary arena with a capacity of 6,000 seats at minimum. However, a minimum capacity of 12,000 and 8,000 seats respectively is recommended to compensate for seats taken by additional installations (e.g. camera platforms, product placement) and free ticket allocations to enable an economic success of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship for the organiser."

http://wiki.iihf.com/2017tlbx/9. Event Regulation & Guidelines/2017 IIHF Bid Regulations.pdf

 

[Fjorden]

Exactly. Fasel said, arena in Kosice is now too small. Question is, what will the new IIHF President say. Maybe they will reconsider this.

Regarding to Slovakia, it is hard to buy such big arena. Cost are high and the maintenance too. If you look to it, it is not hard to build such arena. It is way harder not to go to red numbers after WCH ends.

In Oslo and Trondheim the Telenor arena and Trondheim Spektrum is planned for much more than just icehockey Concerts, handball, tennis, maybe basketball, global series, MMA, weoghtlifting, volleyabll, boxing, snooker, conferences, dance.++. Same concept as you see in USA/Canada with broad cooperation and a flexible arena so they can attract a high volume of events to make it proffitable. Think you have to think broader than just icehockey to build this bigger arenas.

 

[BlizzardSloth]

Agree with you, the teams you named do not need such venues. It is a matter of what you want. Do you want the European club hockey to be like it is now, so with smaller clubs from smaller towns (in top leagues - SHL, etc)? It is one way of development. But in this case, we need to realise that hockey in Europe will always be a marginal sport with a small amount of money. Even if there was functioning Champions Hockey League (now it is a death project).

Another way of development is to create leagues (plural) with clubs from bigger cities. [...] Of course, even in this case, we need smaller clubs, but they should not play the elite level.

Actually yes, I think it should stay that way, since those small towns are often absolut hotbeds to the sports and I'm not sure if it would stay that way if they wouldn't play on the elite level anymore.

But that's a topic to be discussed somewhere else.

 

[alko]

I do not see any reason why it should be reconsidered if there is such an approach. It is just a normal development to demand higher & higher standards (of infrastructure/venues) from countries wishing to host any kind of international event. We do not live in 1990 anymore when up to 8000 seat arena was an upper standard. I would wish all top European hockey leagues to come to the new standard - at least 10 000 seats. European club hockey would just benefit from it.

Look to the Olympics. Winter Olympics. Especially Sochi 2014 pushed the budged way over limit. For the 2026 OG Graz, Sion and Calgary withdraw because of money. Then there was an discussion, the budget must be lower. Otherwise, we will see Winter Olympics in countries like Kazachstan, China ...

WCH should be playing every year. And if you dont want to have it in 2-3 countries, there should t be strictly demand for big above 15 000 people arenas.

 

[vorky]

Look to the Olympics. Winter Olympics. Especially Sochi 2014 pushed the budged way over limit. For the 2026 OG Graz, Sion and Calgary withdraw because of money. Then there was an discussion, the budget must be lower. Otherwise, we will see Winter Olympics in countries like Kazachstan, China ...

WCH should be playing every year. And if you dont want to have it in 2-3 countries, there should t be strictly demand for big above 15 000 people arenas.

I see nothing wrong with the Olympics in countries like Kazakhstan or China. But that is not the point.

I can not comment on the 2026 OG. But I can comment on the Sochi Games. You say "the budged way over limit" but do you know what was done? Russia used the Olympics to develop all aspects of daily life in Sochi & neighbourhood, including but not only all kinds of transportation (f.e. Adler airport), accommodation etc infrastructure. They also built other objects which are now used by the government. Hence, why they used a lot of money. Because they planned the 2014 Olympics with looking into following decades to come. Now, they are going on with infrastructure´s development in Sochi, dedicated to spa & recreation & national tourism. Btw, they started this development with Games.

You can not look at the Sochi Games only with sports point of view, how many & what sport objects were built. You need to look at it from a deeper look. It was a strategic move by the Russian government. All the results will come in the future. Btw, Russia is doing the same with FIFA WC or IIHF Worlds or other international events. They are developing not just the sports infrastructure, but all other kinds of daily infrastructure.

You to understand it, I will give you an example from Slovakia. As we know, the highway is an issue since always. If using this example, if Slovakia hosted the Games somewhere in the east (Košice), we would finish all transportation corridors, especially highways, within two or three years. That is just one & not the only example. Impossible? Agree. But the Russians did this with Sochi Games, FIFA WC etc.

 

[alko]

I see nothing wrong with the Olympics in countries like Kazakhstan or China. But that is not the point.

I can not comment on the 2026 OG. But I can comment on the Sochi Games. You say "the budged way over limit" but do you know what was done? Russia used the Olympics to develop all aspects of daily life in Sochi & neighbourhood, including but not only all kinds of transportation (f.e. Adler airport), accommodation etc infrastructure. They also built other objects which are now used by the government. Hence, why they used a lot of money. Because they planned the 2014 Olympics with looking into following decades to come. Now, they are going on with infrastructure´s development in Sochi, dedicated to spa & recreation & national tourism. Btw, they started this development with Games.

You can not look at the Sochi Games only with sports point of view, how many & what sport objects were built. You need to look at it from a deeper look. It was a strategic move by the Russian government. All the results will come in the future. Btw, Russia is doing the same with FIFA WC or IIHF Worlds or other international events. They are developing not just the sports infrastructure, but all other kinds of daily infrastructure.

You to understand it, I will give you an example from Slovakia. As we know, the highway is an issue since always. If using this example, if Slovakia hosted the Games somewhere in the east (Košice), we would finish all transportation corridors, especially highways, within two or three years. That is just one & not the only example. Impossible? Agree. But the Russians did this with Sochi Games, FIFA WC etc.

Maybe you have point in some aspects, but this is going into another way, as this topic. I just wan t to say, that there shouldn't be a strictly rule with big 15 000+ people arenas for WCH.

 

[vorky]

Maybe you have point in some aspects, but this is going into another way, as this topic. I just wan t to say, that there shouldn't be a strictly rule with big 15 000+ people arenas for WCH.

Fine. But it is also reasonable to demand some higher standard from the IIHF side. Looks like they have this standard at 6000 seats as a minimum. I understand why they are doing it, simply there are not enough venues over 10 000 or 12 000 to host the IIHF Worlds. But the question is, what will force the European (club) hockey to get to bigger (10-12+) venues on regular basis? The first driving force could be their leagues, but it is not a case. Only the KHL has a minimum recommendation of over 12 000 seats. And in reality, the clubs are switching to such venues. I do not see the Champions Hockey League, SHL, Liiga, TELH etc to have such a recommendation. Look at basketball, the Euroleague. CSKA Moscow plays their domestic league at 5500 arena, but switching to Megasport (12000+) for Euroleague games because the Euroleague demands such venue. They simply do not allow them to play at 5500 venue. Another driving force could be the IIHF & the IIHF Worlds or Olympics.

To sum it up, if speaking about hockey as business at the club or international (IIHF Worlds, Olympics) level, you can not play at 6000 venue.

 

[Jussi]

Ticket prices at the Worlds are usually at a level where they can't even fill the small arenas for every match so why pay the high arena rent for no profit? It doesn't matter how big the arena is when it's not filled to capacity. Jokerit can't even fill the Hartwall Arena for every game, despite numerous free/cheap ticket campaigns.

 

[alko]

But the question is, what will force the European (club) hockey to get to bigger (10-12+) venues on regular basis?

Money. As we all know, ice-hockey business isnt very profitable in Europe. And if they want to have bigger arena, they must seek other cultural activities to fill it and be in black numbers. And that is in some places hard to do.

 

[vorky]

Money. As we all know, ice-hockey business isnt very profitable in Europe. And if they want to have bigger arena, they must seek other cultural activities to fill it and be in black numbers. And that is in some places hard to do.

Then the homework is to make it profitable. And invest more money. Right now we see the clubs with a budget of around €5 million or a bit higher. With such sums, European club hockey will always be meaningless. I am sure you know Hruby´s words of a need at least €15 million to be even competitive.