By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Washington, D.C. — After the Vegas Golden Knights scored gold with $33-per-fan merchandise sales at T-Mobile Arena for Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 (more than $500,000), the Washington Capitals nearly matched the VGK in merchandise sales at Game 3 at Capital One Arena with the Caps generating just less than $500,000 in sales Saturday.
Hannah Webb, a visiting manager for the Capitals team store at Capital One Arena, said retails sales were booming before and during Game 3, which the Caps won, 3-1, over the Knights to take a 2-1 games lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. Game 4 is Monday at 8 p.m. here in The District and 5 p.m. back home in Las Vegas.
In fact, only three T-shirts showing both the Golden Knights and Capitals logos were left hanging on the rack at the team store Monday morning. Fans gobbled up about 240 of the shirts at $27.99 each.
LVSportsBiz.com interviewed Webb Monday to get a handle on the merchandise sales.
Last week, Golden Knights owner Bill Foley said the per-capita spending for Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena was $33 a person, which translates into more than $600,000 sales with attendance at 15,575 that game.
Webb said sales were hot for Game 3, just under half a million dollars, because the Caps have not been in the Cup Finals for 20 years.
“It’s a long time coming,” Webb said this morning.
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Webb said Golden Knights fans have also stopped in the store to buy Stanley Cup commemorative items that show both the VGK and Caps logos such as pucks showing the SCF game number.
“It’s a great match-up. There’s been no trash talking,” Webb said. “Everyone seems civil and polite.”
She noted, “Anything with both teams on it” is selling well.
“Any dueling product is most popular,” Webb said. The store sold 288 commemorative Game 3 pucks Saturday, she noted.
Webb also said she was amazed at how popular the team jerseys were, with Alex Ovechkin’s red number 8 sweater being the top seller.
“The jerseys were still flying off the wall,” she said.
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Washington, DC has some hockey life on its downtown urban streets. Here’s a shirt stand selling Tees for four bucks each and Caps jerseys for $50 a pop.
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StubHub’s least expensive ticket for Game 4 as of about 1 p.m. was $1,095.
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There’s backup goalie Malcolm Subban after Golden Knights practice Wednesday.
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Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore, who had a rough Game 3, chats with the media Wednesday.
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The Golden Knights and Capitals have two contrasting arena settings. The VGK’s T-Mobile Arena sits like a giant copper-skinned saucer off Interstate 15 at the Tropicana Ave., while the Caps’ Capital One Arena is wedged into The District’s institution-ladened downtown streetscape complete with rail stop.
As a result, the Caps’ stage their pregame activities not on a plaza outside their venue but right out on the pavements and streets.
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Don’t forget — T-Mobile Arena is opening at 3:30 PM to host a watch party indoors in light of the searing heat in Las Vegas today. Temps could hit 108 today in Vegas, so arena is open for watch party.
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