The tv product is quite awful tbh, and the live experience can't be that great either considering how far the rink is from the stands. Would be great if they could create a venue where the stands are closer to the rink, but then they wouldn't be able to sell 60 000 tickets so it wouldn't be profitable.
Yeah. They could actually do it but the costs to bring in bleacher seating etc combined with insurance etc, repairs to the field post event & so on would very likely be prohibitive, many facilities loathe to even host it. But your absolutely correct as that pretty much what it'd take for these things to be fan friendly if attending; better in terms of broadcast as well whereby there's some intimacy to the rink, event. These are all essentially staged in the controlled environments of arena & stadium facilities, washrooms, concessions, lighting, dressing rooms, medical facilities, entry gates etc...
If they were imaginative at all & willing to spend they could stage these games at unique outdoor venues (Plains of Abraham outside of Quebec City - desert floor outside of Scottsdale or wherever in & around Phoenix etc as yes, we have the technology) however the costs would be high as youd be looking at creating a temporary & obviously portable infrastructure, 1000's of moving parts & pieces. Think outside of the box, turn back the pages to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Barnam & Bailey, the era of the great travelling events & circuses of the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries which is still carried on by Cirque du Soleil & other smaller travelling road shows of one kind or another.
Thats pretty much what it would take for these events to re-gain any relevancy though as its the NHL, dont hold your breath. Theyve gotta do something though. Much of their growth, attraction, sizzle to the steak for their sponsors & broadcasters was/is predicated, built around these events & there dying a slow death. People no longer amused. Tuning out. The guy responsible for it, former NHL Director of Marketing John Collins who spearheaded these activities in 2007 (and who was in large part responsible for the phenomenal growth of the Leagues Central Revenues & increases in Broadcast Fee's) is gone from the scene, left the NHL, was often mentioned as a possible successor to Gary Bettman.... and meanwhile these "fad events" have seen their day. Some fads become trends, trends becoming solidified in the mainstream, but this is not the case with the Classic Outdoor Games, Stadium Series etc. A fad who's day came & went. They now need to reinvent themselves & that takes guts, imagination.
