The Dallas Stars will not be hosting LGBTQ Pride Night for the 2026-2027 season, the first time in five years.
The NHL team did not provide a specific reason for dropping Pride Night in the coming season, which usually takes place in February or March. The team will instead reportedly “host a game dubbed ‘Hockey Unites Us: Women in Sports Night’ on March 23 against the Carolina Hurricanes,” per Dallas News.
“The new Hockey Unites Night allows our organization to use our platform to celebrate and support a different underrepresented community each season,” Stars spokesperson Joe Calvillo said in a statement.
The NHL does not mandate that teams host Pride Night, leaving it up to the organizations to decide what causes or groups they wish to highlight. For the Dallas Stars, events in the upcoming season will celebrate Black history, Hockey Fights Cancer, Noche Mexicana, the U.S. military, and first responders.
“Last season, the Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings and Utah Mammoth were the only three NHL teams not to host a night to celebrate LGBTQ+ inclusion,” noted the outlet. “The Boston Bruins have never hosted a dedicated Pride Night but include the LGBTQ+ community in their broader Hockey Is For Everyone celebration held annually since 2017-18.”
“The Kings, however, are bringing back Pride Night next season, and the Hurricanes have a Hockey Is For Everyone Night scheduled for March,” it added.
The team’s decision to drop Pride Night for the upcoming season drew some online backlash.
“It is truly a shame that in an era where bigotry is being normalized, the [Stars] have decided that they want to treat celebration nights as if they’re pie instead of welcoming everyone in,” said one user. “One of the biggest signs of increasing societally approved bigotry is when minority groups are no longer seen by businesses as profitable. this isn’t just a Dallas Stars issue, or an NHL/hockey issue, and it’s not even just a queer issue. It’s everywhere.”