Fans are coming back to Golden Knights games starting March 1 Photo credit: L.E. Baskow/LVSportsBiz.com
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
There’s no doubt fans in Las Vegas have an adoring relationship with their hometown-born NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights. But as much as they do tap their bank accounts to dole out hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend Golden Knights games at T-Mobile Arena, they do have their financial limits.
In other words, the Golden Knights are opening the arena for about 2,600 fans a game for seven games in March and the punch line is that there are still tickets for all seven contests if you’re willing to spend the money.
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LVSportsBiz.com checked the VGK Ticket Exchange today for per seat ticket availability at 12:45 PM and found tickets in both the lower and upper bowls at these price ranges:
VGK vs Minnesota Wild, March 1: $250-$1,000
VGK vs Wild, March 3: $203-$700+
VGK vs San Jose Sharks, March 15: $355-$1,000
VGK vs Sharks, March 17: $420-$950
VGK vs St. Louis Blues, March 22: $235-$575
VGK vs LA Kings, March 29: $253-$1,200
VGK vs Kings, March 31: $253-1,200
I’m tagging along with a friend for one game but, I’m sorry Knights. I want to stay married and retire at reasonable age. I’m blessed tho getting to head back for one. I’m happy for all the people that are going. It will be so awesome to see the golden family in person again — Golden Knights fan Alyce Wheeler
Fans joked on social media how expensive the Knights tickets are, including this meme on the Vegas Golden Knights and Silver Knights Misfits Fan Club page.
Some VGK backers called other fans, “whiners,” and said NHL games are a business that was not yielding any ticket revenue because of no fans at Golden Knights games due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that has killed 500,000 Americans.
There was no shortage of banter about ticket prices on social media.
Keep in mind hundreds of season ticket holders rolled over their season deals to next season, so the Golden Knights have cash in the bank.
Plus, the Knights are peddling luxury suite deals, too, for March:
Golden Knights superfan Christopher Green said he will be at the arena and offered these comments: “I support the Southern Nevada Health District’s focus on conservative safety regarding Covid-19 exposure at sporting events like Vegas Golden Knights games inside the Fortress at T-Mobile Arena. One of the best ways to limit your exposure is to secure an ultra-prestigious suite by contacting the VGK Ticketing & Suites group ( 702-645-4259 ). Personally I’ll be floating around the arena throughout the month of March in different seating selections, but if I had a large group of people that I had been sequestered with the whole time we’ve been on lockdown I would definitely get a suite!”
NHL arenas around the league are reopening for fans after Arizona, Dallas and Florida had the first three NHL venues open for fans. Game-related revenues are crucial for NHL teams because the league does not have big TV broadcast rights deals like the National Football League. NHL teams rely on about half of their revenues from game-related income streams like ticket and merchandise sales.
“That’s our job – to entertain people,” VGK coach Pete DeBoer said today. “Just knowing they’re on the other side of the TV screen isn’t the same thing.”
The Golden Knights do well with per-capita spending by fans at VGK games at T-Mobile Arena and majority owner Bill Foley said it was “silly” for the Clark County Health Department to limit attendance capacity at T-Mobile Arena to 15 percent when Gov. Steve Sisolak said in his recent COVID-19 directive that large event gatherings can have 20 percent capacity.
The Knights play Anaheim Saturday in Southern California.
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