Stanley Cup Tickets Go for $5,000, Topping Vancouver Olympics, Super Bowl
NHL Stanley Cup Final
Vancouver Canucks fans cheer on their team while watch Game Six of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on June 13, 2011 in downtown Vancouver. Photograph: Rich Lam/Getty Images.
Vancouver Canucks fans cheer on their team while watch Game Six of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on June 13, 2011 in downtown Vancouver. Photograph: Rich Lam/Getty Images.
Hockey fever in Vancouver has pushed average ticket prices for tonight’s Stanley Cup Final decider between the Canucks and Boston Bruins to more than $5,000 on the secondary market.
The average price exceeds the $4,300 for last year’s Olympic gold medal hockey game between Canada and the U.S., which was also played in Vancouver. It also tops the $4,500 resale price for this year’s Super Bowl, according to FanSnap.com, an Internet search engine that finds seats on about 50 ticket-reselling Web sites.
The Canucks host Game 7 tonight at Rogers Arena with a chance to win the National Hockey League championship for the first time in their 41-year history. They’re also seeking to become the first Canadian team to win the title since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
“This takes it to a new level,” Christian Anderson, a spokesman for Palo Alto, California-based FanSnap.com, said in a telephone interview. “The Canucks haven’t won before and, with a Game 7, this is it, it’s do or die. That definitely drives the prices.”
The home team has won each of the first six games in the series. The Canucks had one-goal wins in all three games in Vancouver and were outscored by the Bruins 17-3 in Boston, including a 5-2 loss in Game 6 two days ago.
The Bruins have lost five times in the championship series since claiming the last of their five Stanley Cups in 1972.
Downtown Crowds
More than 35,000 fans crowded into Vancouver’s downtown area to watch Game 6 on jumbo television screens, according to the Vancouver Police Department. The soaring ticket prices may mean bigger crowds in the streets tonight.
The lowest-priced Game 7 seats are listed at $2,300, according to SeatGeek.com, a search engine for tickets to sporting events and concerts.
“When you look at a team like the Canucks that has never won a final and how excited the fans in Vancouver are, it’s pretty incredible,” Ben Kessler, a spokesman for New York-based SeatGeek.com, said in a telephone interview.
Game 7 seats were listed at SeatGeek for about $5,000 on average yesterday, said Kessler, who added that the company’s average doesn’t factor tickets that are priced “absolutely absurdly.”
“This is a huge game for the Canucks and fans are showing they care with their wallets,” Kessler said.
Home Ice
The front page of yesterday’s Vancouver Sun, the largest newspaper in British Columbia, read: “Home-ice advantage.” In the NHL’s previous 15 Stanley Cup Finals that have gone to a seventh game, the host team has a 12-3 record.
“We worked all year long to get home ice,” said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, whose team had the NHL’s best record during the regular season. “Our fans are going to be excited and our players are going to be excited.”
Since Montreal won the Stanley Cup 18 years ago, four Canadian teams have lost the championship series. Three were beaten in a seventh game, including Vancouver at the New York Rangers in 1994. Store-front windows were smashed and there was looting during riots in Vancouver after that loss.
Youssef Zohny, a fund manager at Van Arbor Asset Management in Vancouver who said he plans to watch the game with friends at a pub, said he’s hoping the city gets to experience a celebration this time.
“It’s been a memorable season and this city is hungry for the Stanley Cup,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
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