A sellout crowd of at least 44,000 is expected for Monday's Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park. Last year's Winter Classic in Pittsburgh was "the highest-rated regular-season game since 1975," and the presence of the large markets of N.Y. and Philadelphia "gives this year's game a chance to draw an even larger audience" (USA TODAY, 12/30). Ticket prices on the secondary market "have been sky high for much of the month but appeared to be trending down earlier this week." Seatgeek.com pegged the average ticket price on Wednesday at $615, with the lowest price ticket going for $350 (DELAWARE COUNTY DAILY TIMES, 12/28).
The conditions for game time have been forecast to be a high of 41 degrees with a 20% chance of rain (WEATHER.com, 12/30). In the event of inclement weather or poor ice conditions, NHL COO John Collins said that the contingency plan "includes moving the start time back to late afternoon or evening on Jan. 2 or possibly pushing it back to Jan. 3 'if the day really is bad.'" Collins: "It doesn't look like we're going to have that kind of issue this year" (TORONTO STAR, 12/30).
USA TODAY Friday featured in an eight-page special section on the Winter Classic that featured full-page ads from Honda, Sirius-XM Radio, Coors Light and Verizon (THE DAILY).
