Tickets for NHL Stadium Series in Tampa on sale Thursday

Tickets on sale for outdoor Lightning game

Bolts fans can grab their tickets to see the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1, 2026. FOX 13?s Kellie Cowan reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Tickets to the Tampa Bay Lightning's first home outdoor game are now on sale through TicketMaster. It's part of the NHL's Stadium Series and is the second of two NHL contests to be played in the Sunshine State this winter.

What we know:

Though the game time is still to be determined, the matchup with the Bruins is set to take place on the evening of Feb. 1st, 2026, on a rink that will be carefully constructed on the field inside Raymond James stadium.

It will become the league's 45th stadium event in over two decades and, along with this year's Winter Classic in Miami, will be the furthest south the league has ever hosted outdoor games.

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Miami will host the Sunshine State's first-ever outdoor game on Jan. 2, which will take place inside the Marlins' loanDepot Park. The baseball stadium features a retractable roof, allowing the league to construct that rink inside an enclosed, temperature-controlled environment. Come game time, the roof can be opened in just 15 minutes or remain in place in the event of inclement weather. 

The game in Tampa, however, won't come with the same safety net. In order to build and protect the rink at Raymond James Stadium, the NHL says it will first construct a massive tent over the field.

Courtesy: NHL.

"It's not your regular camping tent," explained NHL senior director of hockey operations Derek King. "There's a lot of pieces that go into this so it'll withstand the weather."

King says the tent will be able to hold its own against the extremes of Florida weather: sun, rain, and up to 140 mph winds. In fact, the term "tent" doesn't exactly begin to cover the temporary structure the NHL has in mind.

NHL.com calls it a "custom-designed tension fabric building" with a steel frame covered in an "engineered membrane material." The massive structure will measure 34 feet high, 124 feet wide and 248 feet long. It will be fully enclosed and equipped with its own HVAC system to regulate temperature and humidity.

Local perspective:

King says the NHL began exploring the possibility of bringing an outdoor event to Tampa three years ago. Part of the league's recon involved checking out the outdoor rink at the center of downtown Tampa's annual Winter Village at Curtis Hixon Park. 

Beyond temperature concerns, the average high in Tampa for Feb. 1 is about 71 degrees. King says they discovered humidity would be an even greater challenge they would need to overcome. 

Excess moisture in the subtropical air promotes the formation of frost, which slows down pucks and skates.

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 13: Jake Guentzel #59 of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates a goal with teammates Brandon Hagel #38 and Nikita Kucherov #86 against the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena on April 13, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI

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"We don't want that frost," said King. "We know when the players skate, they're going to cut up the ice. We're going to get snow. That's normal, but now you add that high humidity and we're going to start getting a frost build up. We don't want more snow because it slows down the sheet." 

King says they aim to keep conditions inside the tent at 60 degrees with a dew point of 38.

"HVAC dehumidification inside the tent is going to allow us to build the best sheet possible," said King.

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They plan to keep the rink covered as long as they can, but the tent will take six hours to deconstruct on game day. Once it's down, combatting Tampa's warm, wet, and salty air will keep King and his crew on their toes. 

"Knowing what we could see in Tampa, there are winter days where it's 70, 80 degrees outside. That is a challenge and we're going to no doubt make changes during the game. I think it'll be the first time that we're going to need to use both of our refrigeration trailers," said King. "We know we can't control the outdoor environments, so we have to make changes with the best water that we're going to use, how much ice are we going to make, and continue to monitor conditions throughout the game."

And should they face an especially stormy or sweltering day, King says they have a plan for that as well. 

"We always have a weather date held, so if for some reason we can't play the game when it's scheduled, we'll delay as long as we can and then we do have a backup date. Our goal is to play when it's scheduled and we'll make those changes closer up to game time."

What you can do:

For a look at tickets, click here.