Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Corey Trojanowski
There are certain phrases heard when talking about tickets for a Pittsburgh Penguins game at home. Before, it might have been "I hate sitting high in Section C at the Igloo behind the goal." Or you could have heard "I hate paying so much on StubHub or TicketExchange."
Now, the phrase I'm talking about is "Good seats still available."
The Penguins have not sold out of home game tickets this season. This while the franchise is in the midst of a sellout streak spanning over five full seasons. 251 home games to be exact dating back to Valentine's Day 2007.
The Pens are pushing it too. Notice anything different about their website?
You typically would only see this for about 15 minutes the day individual game tickets go on sale.
And it's not like just single seats are available in the rafters of CONSOL Energy Center. Oh no. There are groups of two seats and even rows in the lower level unclaimed, waiting to be nabbed at face value.
I know! Divisional rival games hosting the Devils and Islanders. Ryan Malone and the Lightning...all played on a SUNDAY! Even the Capitals game still has tickets!
Is it fans holding a grudge from the lockout? Our own PensU Podcast host Doug stated he wasn't attending one NHL game this season unless he got free tickets. Well free tickets do in fact help fans show up. It was standing room only for the Black vs. Gold scrimmage before the season. Whatever the case, there's only 24 home games at CEC in this shortened season. Pittsburgh is always a loud and hostile environment for visiting teams, but not when only 85% full.
Wednesday's home opener vs. Toronto is a sellout. So at least the streak will reach 252 games. After that... we'll see.
Are you choosing not to buy tickets or attend a Penguins home game? Why? Comment below to keep the discussion going.
Are you choosing not to buy tickets or attend a Penguins home game? Why? Comment below to keep the discussion going.
3 comments:
I don't live in Pittsburgh so I attend Pens road games, but the tickets are just so expensive. I really got a sticker shock last Tuesday morning when individual game tix went on sale. I made a list of divisional road games I wanted and did get tickets for most of them (about 8 or 9), but in only one instance (the Devils fame in February) was I able to get reasonably good seats for my whole family at the price I could afford. After all fees, I paid $192 for my ticket to the Saturday game in Philly and then $188 for the game in New York on Sunday. I'm not holding a grudge, but the prices are unreal.
I have priorities to spend my money on and one those is not Pens games. Way over-priced. I can't justify spending nearly $500 on a night with the family for one game.
Nearly all the tickets they have left are single seats spread around the arena and standing room. Don't expect to go into the buy tickets page and be able to buy 2 or 4 tickets to any game you want. It just won't happen.
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