THE BRONX —
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| Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, the home to two NHL games that may very well not be sold out. |
Or maybe it’s that Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t.
Just about six weeks ahead of two outdoor NHL games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, one featuring our Devils and the Rangers, the other the Islanders and Rangers, neither game is yet sold out — and just today, I could have ordered eight (that is the max) seats in what is considered a prime location.
It’s the same story for the game between the Ducks and Kings at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
None of the three games have yet sold out. And I have to question even more whether any of them ultimately will.
I was asked on the radio today by Joel McGuirk why I believed the games were not sold out yet. And the simple answer is the ticket prices. The average fans simply cannot afford to shell out a couple hundred bucks -- per seat -- for a single, regular-season hockey game. It’s just too much to ask a struggling middle-class hockey fan to pay $79 for seats where it will be next to impossible to see any game action or up to as much as $349 per seat in the best locations (the 200 level directly behind home plate).
On a personal note, I haven’t been to a Devils game since 2009 -- and even if I were in New Jersey still in January, there is no way in hell I’d pay that kind of money, regardless of the novelty of playing outside. It’s simply outrageous. And as usual, the die-hard, middle-class fan gets shut out in favour of the wealthy fan who likes the novelty of the game -- but who couldn’t care less about hockey in most instances.
Meanwhile, the game at Chicago’s Soldier Field hasn’t gone on sale yet, but there is no question it will sell out -- or will it?
The Heritage Classic in Vancouver and the actual Winter Classic will both be easily sold out.
At any rate, here is a look at the seats I could have scored -- along with a seating chart of Yankee Stadium. Keep in mind what makes for a great baseball seat would actually make for an awful hockey seat. So prime locations aren’t where one would expect them to be for baseball.
PS -- if you’re going to the game and have a young child, that child, regardless of age, will need a ticket. Yes, even an infant.
Click on the images to see them blown up.
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