DALLAS — Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop tossed a football around at Cotton Bowl Stadium on the first day of spring while teammate John Klingberg played with a soccer ball.

That historic football field will be covered by a sheet of ice and converted into a hockey rink for them to play their professional sport next New Year’s Day when the Stars host the Nashville Predators in the 2020 Winter Classic. It will be the southernmost outdoor game for the NHL.

“Over the last three decades, we have brought hockey to places that no one ever dreamed we’d take this game,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday. “Dallas, and for that matter Nashville, are quintessential examples of the hockey boom.”