When you think of Dallas and the Cotton Bowl you probably don’t think of ice hockey. But on January 1, 2020 the 12th annual Winter Classic was held in Dallas Texas at The Cotton Bowl and 85,630 showed up to watch the Dallas Stars skate against the Nashville Predators.

 Tickets for this event sold out within hours, More than 60,000 tickets sold in the presale which is the second most in history and 20,000 more sold out on the day of the official release of the tickets. Who would’ve thought hockey would do this well in Texas? 

This was one of the more exciting NHL Winter Classic games, Only 2:44 into the 1st period Corey Perry of the Dallas Stars was ejected for a nasty elbow to the face of Ryan Ellis of Nashville. After that the Predators went up 2-0 which left a stadium of 85,630 muttering and booing. The Stars eventually rallied to win the game 4-2. That afternoon at the Cotton Bowl there were longhorns, horses and even pig races. Not what you would normally associate with hockey but it is Texas. Before and after the game fans were able to experience a carnival at The State Fair of Texas Midway.

This 2020 Winter Classic exceeded predictions for ticket sales which said the most sold would be 65,000. Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, said, “I think the atmosphere speaks for itself, it has been nothing short of spectacular.”

The NHL took it’s crown jewel of events to the south and the atmosphere was breathtaking and the ice was good.