It was fitting that John Collins, COO for the NHL, and Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports, were standing in Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York as part of an NHL-NBC contingent taking part in a 2012 Bridgestone Winter Classic preview.

Studio 8H has been home to Saturday Night Live since in began in 1975, and originally was built as a soundstage for Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Last week, it served as the site for a media conference for the outdoor Winter Classic, which will be seen on NBC on Jan. 2, 2012, from Citizen’s Bank Park with the host Philadelphia Flyers taking on long-time rival New York Rangers.

The 2011 Bridgestone Winter Classic between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh was seen by 4.5 million viewers, the most-watched NHL regular-season game in 36 years, according to NBC. The league and the network are seeking bigger numbers for 2012 even though the game on Jan. 1, 2011 was aided by being moved from afternoon to evening primetime due to a weather delay.

“[The Winter Classic] gets bigger and bigger [every year] and has allowed us to stretch the event over a number of days,” said Collins. “It has allowed a lot of blue-chip advertisers to figure out how they can activate and spend money against the NHL and it’s very attractive event.”

This year’s game was moved from its traditional New Year’s Day to Jan. 2 to avoid the 800-pound gorilla of the NFL on Jan. 1, which in 2012 falls on a Sunday. All six of the college football bowl games usually scheduled for Jan. 1 also moved to Jan. 2.

“[The schedule change] has not been a problem for the league or NBC,” said Collins, who cited an Alumni Game and fan-fest as part of the nucleus of extended activities. “[The Winter Classic] has become a celebration of hockey.”

According to Collins, in addition to such factors as the uniqueness of being played outdoors and the intensity of players and fans, “it has been the activation of our sponsors” that has enable the game to become an NHL jewel event alongside the All-Star Game and Stanley Cup playoffs. “The advertising community has really been attracted to the NHL as a result of this game. They are now finding many more ways to spend money.”

In addition to title sponsor Bridgestone, brands activating for the event include presenting sponsors Coors Light, Geico, Honda, Molson Canadian, and Verizon; and partners Cicso, Compuware, Discover Card, McDonald’s, Pepsi Max, Reebok, Westin and SiriusXM.

Pepsi Amp was title sponsor of the first outdoor Winter Classic, held in Buffalo on Jan. 1, 2008. Bridgestone took over the next year has been there ever since. A deal signed in 2010 extended the company’s position as the official tire of the NHL, NHL Players Assn. and the Hockey Hall of Fame through 2015, including title sponsorship of the Winter Classic.

As part of the league’s 10-year TV contract with NBC signed earlier this year, the Winter Classic was made a permanent part of the NHL schedule through at least Jan. 1, 2021.

HBO has helped to pump up the volume with a no-holds-barred countdown to the game, this year titled, 24/7 Flyers-Rangers: Road to the Winter Classic.

“Bridgestone has been a great example of a company that has figured this out,” said Collins. “The same as they did with the NFL and the Super Bowl halftime show (where Bridgestone has been title sponsor since Super Bowl XLII and will continue under its current NFL deal through Super Bowl XLIX). It’s not easy to activate behind big events and get proper value. Clearly, they do.”

This year, the game will usher in a new era for NBC: On Jan., 2, the network will officially rebrand Versus as the NBC Sports Network. The cable station became part of the NBC universe this past February when owner/operator Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal.

Moving forward, NBC Sports Network will be home to sports news and talk shows and live events from the Super Bowl XLVI and the 2012 Summer Olympics, both of which are exclusive to NBC next year.

“We will literally throw the switch after the Winter Classic,” said NBC’s Jon Miller. “Clearly there’s been a lot of work going on with the rebranding and the re-launch. The idea to flip it on Jan. 2 gave us the window of using a high-profile event that is big to NBC and to the NHL. What better place to re-launch and tell the world about what your new brand is going to be than around this event.”

Given the scope of the Winter Classic, Miller acknowledged that numerous NHL cities are vying for hosting rights. Each of the first five have been held in cold-weather venues:  Buffalo (Ralph Wilson Stadium), Chicago (Wrigley Field, pictured above), Boston (Fenway Park), Pittsburgh (Heinz Field) and Philadelphia (pictured).

The league has been eyeing such U.S. locations as Detroit, Denver and New York for future games. Canadian-based NHL cities vie for the outdoor Heritage Classic, which is not being played this year because the 2012 NHL All-Star Game is taking place in Ottawa.

As for cities in other, warmer locations such as Los Angeles and Miami? “Right now, It is difficult to put it in a warm-weather climate,” said Collins. “But with technological advances it might not be impossible in the future.”

The NHL usually names the site for the Winter Classic just prior to the start of the season. Might the league consider giving the public more advanced notice, similar to what the NFL does with the Super Bowl?

“The earlier the better,” said Miller. “That would give everyone more time to activate. But that is up to the league and the commissioner [Gary Bettman].”

Collins had a different opinion. “You want to get out with the news early, but it has been to our advantage to do it when we have, during the pre-season,” he said. “You want to see hows teams did the previous season, who won the Stanley Cup, the rivalries.”

Either way, it’s a sign of the growth and acceptance of the outdoor Winter Classic that the topic of future sites is even being broached. “After the first and second Classics, we waited to see how the game was received by fans, marketers, our media partners, players and the league itself before even committing to another game,” said Collins. “We know we are moving forward, with a [10-year] window of opportunity.”

PHOTO: Wrigley Field Winter Classic: Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI