Seattle welcomed the Kraken's arrival and supported the team from the first drop of the puck. The Kraken qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their second season, eliminating the reigning 2022 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the Western Conference. Seattle lost to the Dallas Stars in seven games in the second round.
Mayer said the telecast will include many of Seattle's famous landmarks, including the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and the Seattle Great Wheel, a giant Ferris wheel at Pier 57.
“We want to delve into the story of a new franchise that represents the league and what the league is about,” Mayer said. “The beauty of the Kraken and the Golden Knights is how established they are; Their fan base is passionate and rabid, they have done so well that they have brought hockey to places where there was no hockey before. Here's everything you need to know about the NHL. And when you get involved with the environment here, with the water, with the boating, where it is, with the Pacific Northwest, all of those things play a role in creating what this is about.”
Hosting the game at T-Mobile Park, home of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners, also provides Mayer and his staff with a unique opportunity to transform the stadium into a hockey venue. Renderings of what the stadium will look like were unveiled by the NHL on Thursday.
“Being in this incredible stadium works really well for us because of the sightlines, the sections are elevated so you can build things that have some height,” Mayer said. “So we build some set pieces, like a boat in the middle that gets wrecked because of the Kraken's tentacles. These are things we can do here that we couldn’t do in other stadiums.”