Who would have thunk it....the Florida Panthers now have a waiting list for season tickets!

[ACC1224]

A friend of mine just renewed their seats for the 25th consecutive season, and they told me that there is currently a waiting list for new season ticket owners.

Take it with a grain of salt, ridicule the organization all you want for the prices, compared to other traditional markets, but this is quite remarkable, considering the state of the team just a few seasons ago.

Of course this is South Florida, so they will need to continue their on ice play, in order to keep the seats filled, but its great to see this for an organization that was given away tickets in 7 Eleven, for nothing.

I think most fans are happy to see Teams have success.

Any idea what the price range is, cheapest to most expensive?
I have upper deck, row 17 in Toronto, just over $7600 CDN, only row 18 is cheaper.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

Pretty cool to see. Amazing what winning can do. If you lose and have less than stable ownership your gonna end up like Atlanta or Arizona.

 

[Tom Polakis]

The arena isn’t in Miami. It’s 45 minutes to na hour depending on where in Miami you are. Could be longer since Miami is an hour away from Miami. You have to pay me to go down there. (Getting paid next weekend at the boat show, actually. Lol)

Yeah, I've been to it, at the edge of the Everglades. The drive from the coast is worse than when I used to drive from Tempe to Glendale during rush hour.

The Panthers are a "metro Miami" team, regardless of the distant arena location.

 

[Laus723]

Yeah, I've been to it, at the edge of the Everglades. The drive from the coast is worse than when I used to drive from Tempe to Glendale during rush hour.

The Panthers are a "metro Miami" team, regardless of the distant arena location.

True, I just refuse to be associated. Lol

 

[Cowumbus]

RELOCATE THEM

To downtown would be cool

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

This is how it should be, you win you sell season tickets you lose you get no attendance. This is the one thing Canada largely gets wrong, is filling the rink even when teams are middling.
Good on Panthers fans doing it the right way.

 

[Deadly Dogma]

Leaf fans when they see other markets earning money and hoping that drives the cap up

 

[Yukon Joe]

Not really surprised, fair weather Florida fans but they’ve never been a real concern for leaving have they? It’s always been Arizona as the problem child alongside atlanta

Edit to clarify, Florida fans do show up, and there are loyal fans but Florida it’s just when time are bad they sell out but when times are good they will.

I for one had always pegged Florida as #2 on the risk to relocate. Their attendance has been entirely execrable over the years - and not just in announced attendance, but by visible buts in the seats of games. Their rink is in the middle of nowhere - and most importantly their lease is up in just a few years.

But hey - I've been wrong lots of times. If they in fact have a wait list, and they extend that arena lease or get some other long-term solution, then I'll happily retract my assessment.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Wow the sport is growing in the south. Who would have thought.

 

[Dread Clawz]

People make a big deal of attendance figures on bad teams but that's just the way it works for 90% of markets after a few years at the bottom.

When the team is good the arena fills up. When the team is bad people tend to spend their money elsewhere. People trash last place teams for their attendance are honestly idiots. Only Montreal, Toronto and a few other markets can keep filling up arenas even when they're bad.

I mean looking at this year only these are the worst attendance teams (other than Arizona):

San Jose - 79% capacity
Buffalo - 85% capacity
Winnipeg - 86% capacity
NYI - 86% capacity
Anaheim - 90% capacity
New Jersey - 90% capacity
Calgary - 91% capacity
Columbus - 92% capacity
Philadelphia - 93% capacity
Washington - 95% capacity
Detroit - 95% capacity

Some of these markets are amongst the best in the NHL.

With the way the economy is going and the way these teams are (mostly) out of the playoffs, it's only normal that someone will decide to spend their hard earned money elsewhere. If I'm in Florida and the team is playing horrible, would I rather spend 30$ on a BBQ at home with friends and family with the game in the background or would I rather shed 100$++ on tickets, food, beers, parking and etc.

When teams win pretty much all markets thrive. Even original 6 teams like Detroit are not immune to that and they're not even playing that bad. Calgary, Philly and Buffalo are huge hockey markets and it's the same thing for them.

It sounds like common sense, yet so many don't get it. There was also a boost in ticket sales after 15-16 when the Panthers won their division and it looked like things were trending up for them. Yet we will still always get the "all three Panthers fans" jokes.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Leaf fans when they see other markets earning money and hoping that drives the cap up
View attachment 815014

Hopefully Treliving spends money better than Dubas.

 

[Laus723]

I for one had always pegged Florida as #2 on the risk to relocate. Their attendance has been entirely execrable over the years - and not just in announced attendance, but by visible buts in the seats of games. Their rink is in the middle of nowhere - and most importantly their lease is up in just a few years.

But hey - I've been wrong lots of times. If they in fact have a wait list, and they extend that arena lease or get some other long-term solution, then I'll happily retract my assessment.

They just spent millions redoing the War Memorial for the guys to be closer to their homes for practice and as investment in the area. They're taking their golf carts to practice. They're not remotely close to moving. They'll either re-sign with the current arena or find somewhere more east of the current location.

Amerant Bank Arena also isn't in the middle of nowhere. There's neighborhoods, a huge mall, places to eat, etc all around it, and as someone who lives 45 minutes north of it, it's far and away the easiest to get to.

See my first post in the thread and feel free to retract or statement, or don't, doesn't really matter.

‘Blown Away’: Panthers hit the ice for first practice at FTL War Memorial | Florida Panthers

Panthers enjoy first on-ice session at new practice facility in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale

www.nhl.com

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

This is very unsurprising.

 

[FerrisRox]

Good for them. I‘m always happy to see a smaller market team succeed. They are contending now, and people are into the game now. My only complaint bring back the old Panther logo, that was a cool logo.

God no.

A panther, on its hind feet, breaking a hockey stick? Please do not bring that back.

Their uniforms right now look great.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Amerant Bank Arena also isn't in the middle of nowhere. There's neighborhoods, a huge mall, places to eat, etc all around it, and as someone who lives 45 minutes north of it, it's far and away the easiest to get to.

See my first post in the thread and feel free to retract or statement, or don't, doesn't really matter.

‘Blown Away’: Panthers hit the ice for first practice at FTL War Memorial | Florida Panthers

Panthers enjoy first on-ice session at new practice facility in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale

www.nhl.com

So I've never been to South Florida.

All I know is that for all those years of terrible attendance that was always the factor brought up - that the arena in Sunrise was well west of Miami proper and difficult for a lot of fans to get to.

Now it's also that there seem to be less relocation possibilities out there in general. And I'll certainly concede that Vincent Viola doesn't look like he's trying to relocate and flip the franchise. Get a long-term lease signed and I'll never speak of Florida moving again.

 

[Laus723]

So I've never been to South Florida.

All I know is that for all those years of terrible attendance that was always the factor brought up - that the arena in Sunrise was well west of Miami proper and difficult for a lot of fans to get to.

Now it's also that there seem to be less relocation possibilities out there in general. And I'll certainly concede that Vincent Viola doesn't look like he's trying to relocate and flip the franchise. Get a long-term lease signed and I'll never speak of Florida moving again.

It’ll get ironed out, I’ve heard they’re looking for somewhere east, but I can’t say it was from a super credible source. I’ve spoken to one of the owners personally several times and the whole ownership group has backed up their talk of not going anywhere. The new practice facility is a huge stake in the ground. They’ve been fantastic and have invested quite a bit in the community.

So far as the arena being to the west, imo that was always a huge excuse. Former owners capped the team, spoke of financial troubles, but created most of their woes. They wanted a casino, far as I know casinos are for the Seminole trouble only, despite that the former owners still tried and made excuses. I believe in an effort to force the county’s hand. I love where the arena’s at. If it does move east, it’s going to add 20-30 minutes depending on location.

 

[Yukon Joe]

So far as the arena being to the west, imo that was always a huge excuse. Former owners capped the team, spoke of financial troubles, but created most of their woes. They wanted a casino, far as I know casinos are for the Seminole trouble only, despite that the former owners still tried and made excuses. I believe in an effort to force the county’s hand. I love where the arena’s at. If it does move east, it’s going to add 20-30 minutes depending on location.

Fair enough. I mean I used to love the location of the old Winnipeg Arena because I could walk to games from my parents house. Now of course the current CLC is downtown which seems to be a much better location - but would have been worse for me (if I still lived at the same house from 30 years ago).

But so they are looking at maybe getting a new arena?

 

[Laus723]

Fair enough. I mean I used to love the location of the old Winnipeg Arena because I could walk to games from my parents house. Now of course the current CLC is downtown which seems to be a much better location - but would have been worse for me (if I still lived at the same house from 30 years ago).

But so they are looking at maybe getting a new arena?

Can’t confirm, just something I’ve heard.

 

[BB79]

what if I told you outside of NYR, Montreal, Toronto, and maybe Boston this applies to literally every fanbase?

I'd throw Buffalo in there too. Pre-2020 despite being dreadful and missing the playoffs for years they still were filling their barn 90%+. Pretty impressive for a small market.

List of National Hockey League attendance figures - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[ScottyMascotty]

Who would've thought that 25 years of suffering doesn't really matter anymore after they found all the right pieces.

Arizona, Columbus, you are the next.

 

[Dread Clawz]

God no.

A panther, on its hind feet, breaking a hockey stick? Please do not bring that back.

Their uniforms right now look great.

I'm one of the few Panthers fans who agree. The original logo was awesome and perfect.....for the 90's.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

Very glad to see their popularity taking off!

I remember going to a 2012 playoff game there and wondering why the arena couldn't always feel like that. Glad to see hockey is taking hold in South Florida.

 

[Salsero1]

I'm one of the few Panthers fans who agree. The original logo was awesome and perfect.....for the 90's.

If it's too hard for a kid to draw or too detailed for a hat, it's not an ideal logo.