NHL finalizing details to hold ‘dramatic’ 2024 NHL Draft in Vegas Sphere 

SEATTLE -- The NHL is finalizing details to hold the 2024 NHL Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28-29, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Tuesday.

Bettman, speaking Tuesday after Day 2 of the NHL Board of Governors meeting, said there are still contracts that need to be signed, but the NHL is in a good place to get it done.

"I think it'll be pretty dramatic," Bettman said.

The NHL will be the first sports entity to hold an event at Sphere, an 18,600-seat globe-like arena that has become renowned for its immersive video and audio technology, including a 16k resolution wraparound interior LED screen and outdoor LED displays.

"It will the first sporting event in the Sphere and I think it'll be a pretty-well viewed event both in terms of the draft itself and the viral 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."

The Vegas Golden Knights will be "so delighted to be able to host the draft at Sphere," president of hockey operations George McPhee said.

"Anyone you talk to says it is just out of this world," McPhee said. "It's just a fascinating and incredible opportunity. Holy cow, what a monumental moment in sports."

This will likely be the last NHL draft to feature representatives from all 32 teams on the draft floor. Starting in 2025, the draft will be decentralized, with most team brass staying in their home markets so they can have access to their personnel in real time and teams can hold fan events.

Sphere is located just off the Las Vegas Strip, less than three miles from T-Mobile Arena, home of the Golden Knights.

The band U2 opened the venue Sept. 29.

"We think this will be fun, this will be a great event," Bettman said. "The Sphere is a spectacular property so I think both for the Sphere and for us this will be a good event to show yet another capability of this magnificent theater."