The NHL’s Olympic Comeback: Best-on-Best Hockey and the Business Behind It
The 2026 Winter Olympics officially began on February 6, 2026, with the opening ceremony being held in Milan Cortina. The women’s hockey tournament got underway one day earlier with the first match between Germany and Sweden. There has been a lot of recent discussion surrounding ice hockey at these Olympics with the controversial construction of the rink, the outbreak of norovirus among athletes and the much-anticipated return of the National Hockey League (“NHL”) to the Olympic stage.
For the first time in 12 years, approximately 150 NHL players will be taking to the ice, representing 11 of the 12 hockey nations competing. Each of the 32 NHL clubs is sending at least one player to Italy for what is projected to be the most competitive men’s tournament in more than a decade.
From Olympic Origins to NHL Withdrawal
Men’s ice hockey has been an Olympic event since the 1920s, but it was only in 1986 that the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) voted to allow professional athletes to compete. The NHL was originally hesitant to participate but eventually agreed. Players have since competed in five Olympic tournaments: Nagano in 1998, Salt Lake City in 2002, Torino in 2006, Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.
In 2017, the NHL announced that sending players to the Olympics was not in its best interests due to broadcasting and sponsorship revenue disputes, insurance obligations, scheduling conflicts and marketing restrictions. As such, the NHL did not participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, much to the dismay of players and fans.
In 2020, the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association (“NHLPA”) negotiated an extension to their Collective Bargaining Agreement. Together with the NHLPA, the NHL addressed its Olympic concerns with the International Ice Hockey Federation (“IIHF”) and the IOC, and ultimately the NHL agreed to allow Olympic participation. The NHL intended to send the players to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing; however, they pulled out due to the NHL’s regular season schedule being postponed as a result of COVID-19 closures and the league being unable to reasonably accommodate the 17-day Olympic break. Notably, Olympic participation has since become a negotiated component of the collective bargaining relationship.
Looking Ahead: Beyond the Olympics
In February 2025, international best-on-best hockey took another big stride forward with the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off between Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. Following the round-robin tournament, the championship game was held in Boston, where superstar Connor McDavid scored the winning goal for Canada in an overtime thriller against the United States. The tournament was a massive success, capturing the attention of long-time fans while attracting new eyes from across the globe and demonstrating the commercial appeal for elite hockey competition outside of the Olympics.
With the announcement of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the NHL and NHLPA also affirmed the return of the World Cup of Hockey, last held in 2016. Unlike the Olympic tournament, which is held under IIHF rules during the NHL’s regular season, the World Cup of Hockey operates under NHL rules and occurs in the pre-season. The next tournament is set for 2028 and every four years after that, thus creating a regular biennial schedule of best-on-best hockey offsetting the Olympics. The event demonstrates the NHL’s broader strategy to expand the global footprint of the game and leverage greater control over sponsorship, broadcasting and media considerations. The league also expects the Olympics to concurrently drive increased viewership and expand commercial opportunities.
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