Almost six months have passed since but the 4 Nations Face-Off was a complete win in every imaginable category for the NHL. Maybe it was the increased political tensions between the two hockey power house nations of the United States and Canada, which is always a marquee matchup. Maybe it was the fans desire to see the NHL’s best return to international competition after almost a decade. Either way, nobody predicted the cultural phenomenon it created for a few February weeks.
Other sports leagues undoubtedly took notice, and some might be copying them. This week it was reported that Major League Baseball is considering moving their World Baseball Classic to the All Star Break. Much like the 4 Nations Face-Off and World Cup of Hockey, the World Baseball Classic is an international tournament run by the league and played on an intermittent schedule of every few years. This comes a few weeks after the 2025 MLB All Star Game was watched by 7.2 million viewers, which was millions more than their NBA and NFL counterparts.
A podcast host reported those numbers in a now viral tweet that said the NHL had “done away” with their All Star game, seemingly completing ignoring the fact the NHL replaced a potential 2025 edition with the 4 Nations Face-Off. People in the comment section quickly used Grok to confirm that the 4 Nations Face-Off was more successful than the MLB All Star Game from a viewership stand point. Even when refuted, the tweet showed the declining interest in All-Star contests, while proving the NHL might have been ahead of the curve in rethinking what they do in place of it.
In some way the World Baseball Classic (called the WBC for short) could follow the same pattern the NHL set for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Both have a similar two week timeframe. As World Baseball noted, however, that’s significantly longer than MLB’s normal All-Star Game break and would be more difficult to fit in a schedule where teams mostly play every single day in the regular season.
Just like the NHL over the past decade, MLB had not sent players to the Olympics (some years baseball isn’t even an Olympic sport) so the only option for top tier international competition was the league run tournament. The NBA regularly sends players to the Summer Olympics, which conveniently fit in the league’s regular season schedule, so they likely wouldn’t consider a move such as this. The NBA also features an in season tournament with their teams that presents another scheduling conflict.
What can we take away from all this? Other leagues saw how well the Four Nations Face Off worked for the NHL. Even if they try to deny it, they want to look for ways to replicate that success. One potential problem for the NHL could be a future oversaturation of international events. NHL players are slated to go back to the 2026 Winter Olympics. The league also expects the World Cup of Hockey to return in 2028. Fans loved the 4 Nations Face-Off because of the pent up demand for seeing top NHL talent play for their nations.
If the league continues to send players to the Olympics, adds the World Cup of Hockey onto their schedule rotation, and possibly brings back the 4 Nations Face-Off, hockey fans could have international tournaments in three out of every four years.
At that point, would league fans get bored of it? Would they became as overlooked as the traditional All-Star Game? National pride fills the seats and gets fans excited and spending money (just look at the crowd that was at the 4 Nations finale game, featuring a shaved head Ben Franklin impersonator). It’s possible the “gimmick” grows old, but as of now, if it’s such a success leagues want to copy you, why stop now?
Also the only person upset at the prospect of less NHL All-Star Games seems to be New York Governor Kathy Hochul after a promised All-Star Game at the New York Islander’s home of UBS Arena was postponed in light of the Winter Olympics. Fans were quick to joke the Islanders winning the 2025 draft lottery was a bribe to make her happy. The event has since been rescheduled.