After Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks evened the Stanley Cup Finals at two games apiece, the series shifts back to Tampa Bay, where ticket prices are averaging less than half as much as they are in Chicago. According to secondary ticket marketplace TicketNetwork, tickets for the Stanley Cup for Game Five in Tampa on Saturday, June 13 are averaging $1,205, compared to $2,522 for Game Six in Chicago. The “get in” price, or the cheapest ticket a fan could buy and still get in the door, for Game Five at the Amalie Arena is $313 as of Thursday, June 11. In contrast, for Game Six at the United Center, the cheapest ticket on Ticket Network is $496.
Should the series go the maximum-possible seven games, Game Seven would be back in Tampa Bay, with ticket prices averaging $1,722, and a get in price of $515. The Lighting have drawn attention throughout the NHL playoffs for their attempts to limit the number of fans of the opposing team that get into Amalie Arena, restricting sales to only Florida residents as well as forbidding the wearing of opponent paraphernalia in certain sections of the arena.
Nevertheless, a number of super Chicago Blackhawk fans have made it the games in Tampa Bay. In fact, the restriction on ticket sales is in part forcing Blackhawks supporters to turn to the secondary market for their tickets. Blackhawks fan Joe Orecchio drove from Illinois to Tampa Bay to watch his favorite NHL team. “They essentially forced Blackhawks fans to pay high resale prices instead of even allowing them a chance to get tickets at face value,” Orecchio told ESPN.
The Chicago Blackhawks were able to even the series thanks to goals from Toews in the second period and what would become the game-winner from Brandon Saad in the third period. It has so far been a startlingly competitive Stanley Cup Finals, with every game so far being decided by one goal, the first time that has happened since 1968. With the series now down to a best-of-three competition, expect the competitiveness to become even greater.
With the series nearing what looks to be a dramatic conclusion, the temptation to travel hundreds of miles (and spend significant sums of money on Stanley Cup tickets) will no-doubt become stronger for Blackhawks fans.
