Tickets to final go for less here
But higher prices in Nashville are perfectly logical
There’s no official discount, but Penguins fans looking to score a ticket to the Stanley Cup final against the Nashville Predators will have a much easier time doing so than their Nashville counterparts.
Online ticket marketplaces StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticket City and Vivid Seats show drastic price differences between Stanley Cup final games in Pittsburgh and Nashville, Tenn. As of midday Friday, the cheapest seat for Game 1 at PPG Paints Arena ranged from $199 to $290 across the four sites, while the cheapest ticket available for Game 3 at Bridgestone Arena ranged from $836 to $1,190.
In fact, as of Friday, it would be cheaper for a Predators fan to fly from Nashville (on a $609 round-trip flight) to Pittsburgh and buy a Game 1 ticket than it would be to see Game 3 at home — as long as they’re willing to sleep at the airport and load up on free peanuts.
Across the four sites, the only time the cheapest Penguins ticket approaches the minimum cost of a Predators home game is a possible Game 7 — and some sites’ cheapest Nashville home game ticket was still more expensive.
“The disparity is crazy,” StubHub spokesperson Cameron Papp said. “It’s pretty unprecedented compared to other finals that we’ve seen.”
Part of the reason for the discrepancy, SeatGeek content analyst Chris Leyden said, is that this is Nashville’s first trip to the Stanley Cup final since the franchise made its debut in 1998.
The Penguins, on the other hand, have a history of success that might make some fans more willing to part with a ticket early in the series. This, Papp explained, can increase the supply of tickets and make it possible for more fans to be part of the Cup run.
“It’s sort of like the New England Patriots of the NFL, when you seem to be in playoffs every year [and] you make the Super Bowl or the NHL final seemingly every other year,” Papp said. “I know it’s not the exact same as Pittsburgh, but it sort of gives more people a chance to see historic events like the final like this. So, it’s actually good. It’s good for prices and good for buyers.”
Papp and Leyden agreed the staggering prices for Nashville home games are closer to what would normally be expected if the New York Rangers or Chicago Blackhawks were in the final.
“I don’t think hockey has ever been bigger than it is right now in Nashville,” Leyden said. “I mean, that team’s really captured not just country music’s hearts, but a lot of people across the country are kind of hopping on the bandwagon.”
Demand differences likely aren’t the only factor in the price discrepancy, though.
As of Friday morning, Papp noted that there were only about 300 tickets available for the Nashville games, compared to more than 2,000 in Pittsburgh. And, while some of that is probably because Nashville fans are clinging to their tickets, Leyden said, part of the short supply also can be attributed to a sale restriction the Predators instituted on buyers outside of a designated viewing area.
The Ticketmaster website says sales for games played at Bridgestone Arena “will be restricted to residents of the Nashville Predators viewing area — Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Residency will be based on credit-card billing address. Orders by residents outside the viewing area will be cancelled without notice.”
That’s not a new tactic from the Predators. A similar rule has been instituted for games against the Chicago Blackhawks in the past, and it makes it more difficult for fans from afar to get into the building.
That means if Pittsburgharea fans are looking to see a game in Nashville, buying direct won’t be an easy option. Instead, they either will have to use one of the resale sites or find a way to use a credit card from that geographic region.
“I think that kind of shows the importance of having a secondary market,” Leyden said.
“It’s funny, because sometimes you’ll hear, ‘ Oh, we want to let the real fans get there.’
“But if someone’s willing to spend $1,000 on a ticket, I have a pretty strong feeling they’re a real fan.”
• NOTE — Beginning Saturday through the Stanley Cup final, Comcast is making the NHL Network free to all Comcast video customers with set-top boxes in the Tri-State area.
“I don’t think hockey has ever been bigger than it is right now in Nashville.” Chris Leyden SeatGeek content analyst