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New Playoff Ticket Strategy Keeps More Golden Knights Jerseys In Game 1 Crowd

The goal stood up. The Golden Knights defeated the Kings, 1-0. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

Knights versus Kings at T-Mobile Arena during the first playoff game on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, in Las Vegas. CREDIT: L.E. Baskow, LVSportsBiz.com

 

By ALAN SNEL

LVSportsBiz.com

 

The partisan crowd was mostly dressed in steel grey, a gigantic, glowing Golden Knights helmet descended from the arena rafters to the ice, and a record 18,479 fans packed T-Mobile Arena Wednesday night.

 

Las Vegas, welcome to Stanley Cup playoff hockey.

 

The Golden Knights defeated their division rival LA Kings, 1-0, and there was a passionate, intense vibe to the big ice house on the Strip that filled the arena thanks to a crowd of mostly Golden Knights fans. The team’s management rolled out an innovative playoff ticket sales strategy to accomplish exactly that.

 

“The atmosphere inside T-Mobile is totally different when you don’t invite the enemy into your castle,” Golden Knights superfan Shawn Hickey tweeted.

Opening ceremonies for the Golden Knights as they face the L.A. Kings at the T-Mobile Arena during their first playoff game on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, in Las Vegas. CREDIT: L.E. Baskow/LVSportsBiz.com

 

The management goal: keep home tickets in the hands of Golden Knights fans by selling the playoff tickets to season ticket holders at a cheaper price if they took a “vow” not to re-sell the tickets on the secondary broker market. LVSportsBiz.com reported the playoff ticket strategy in March.

Golden Knights fans came ready Wednesday night. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

 

The team also skated through a massive knight helmet fabricated by a Henderson company, igniting the crowd even more after it was lowered to the ice with a choreographed video imagery on the center Jumbotron and intense music.

 

“Everything we do is to set up the guys to put them in the best position to win,” said Jonny Greco, the Golden Knights in-game entertainment chief. Greco noted the giant knight helmet will be used for all home playoff games.

 

And the pregame pizzazz even caught the eye of ESPN’s SportsCenter highlights show, with the massive helmet used by the team for its players to whiz through getting some air time. Long-time commentator and former Kings coach Barry Melrose lauded the in-game entertainment features during the SportsCenter hockey segment after the Golden Knights’ win.

It was nearly an all-Knights crowd. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

 

The intense pregame vibe was matched by the Golden Knights’ passionate play from the get-go, and defenseman Shea Thoedore’s goal a mere 3:23 into the contest stood up as goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stonewalled the veteran Kings squad. Fans won free donuts thanks to Fleury’s shutout.

 

LVSportsBiz.com asked coach Gerard Gallant about the impact of the intense pregame program on the team’s quick start and he joked that he thought his team got off to a quick start thanks to his pre-game speech.

 

“They expected the ovation. It went to another level tonight,” Gallant said.

Carnell “Golden Pipes” Johnson gave a stirring anthem performance before the game. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

 

“Coming out of the helmet today, that’s stuff the organization does,” Gallant said.

 

Even Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault noticed the fans’ impact from the start.

 

“We expected a lot from our crowd,” Marchessault said in the Knights’ locker room. “And they showed up.”

Everyone had their game face on tonight. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

 

So did the Golden Knights players, who played a physical, hard-hitting game.

 

William Carrier was a hitting machine before he got hurt. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

 

LVSportsBiz.com also caught up with fan favorite Cameron Hughes, the self-described “crowd igniter” known for his dancing antics to fire up crowds at T-Mobile Arena and 17 other NHL venues.

Cameron Hughes is known to stoke up crowds with his fun dance routines. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

 

Before the game, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL signed a three-year deal with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) to keep the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas. This year’s event is June 20 The Joint at the Hard Rock.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman answering reporters’ questions before the game. Photo credit: Daniel Clark.

 

Meanwhile, fans out on the plaza outside T-Mobile Arena enjoyed a concert by rapper Logic.

Pregame concert crowd at T-Mobile Arena. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

 

The Golden Knight pumps up the crowd as the Golden Knights battle the L.A. Kings at the T-Mobile Arena during their first playoff game on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, in Las Vegas. CREDIT: L.E. Baskow/LVSportsBiz.com

 

Golden Knights fans wave their battle towels as they face the L.A. Kings at the T-Mobile Arena during their first playoff game on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, in Las Vegas. CREDIT: L.E. Baskow/LVSportsBiz.com

 

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Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com founder/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Snel: Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.
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