While watching a NCAA Football game at Yankee Stadium, Mark Herrmann caught up with New York Yankees CEO Lonn Trost about other events at Yankee Stadium, to which Trost replied “Hopefully, we’ll have hockey here.” Clearly this indicates that the Yankees want to have a Winter Classic at the Stadium in the future.

The problem herein lies with the Pinstripe Bowl, which plays on December 30 each year from 2010-2013, when the initial contract runs out. Because of the timing required to set up a rink, there is not enough time between the Bowl game and the Winter Classic (January 1) to get the rink set up in time. In short, any Winter Classic at Yankee Stadium would have to be after the current contract with the Pinstripe Bowl runs its course.

There are other non-BCS bowls played after New Year’s Day, so that would be the most realistic scenario for the Yankees and the NHL. Assuming tearing down a rink can be done within two or three days, Yankee Stadium could be a viable option for a Winter Classic in the future. But it won’t be the near future.

For more news and analysis on the Winter Classic, click here.

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