The Pittsburgh Penguins are far from strangers to the Stanley Cup Final, having won the Cup as recently as 2009 and playing as a finalist in 2008.
But the subsequent seven-year gap, for a franchise that typically ranks among the NHL’s leaders for local-market revenue, TV ratings and attendance: That’s affected how the team handles its postseason business.
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The Pens’ new home got its first Stanley Cup Final this year.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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This season marks the first time since the Penguins moved into Consol Energy Center in 2010 that the club has hosted the final at its new arena. The prior five seasons have brought three first-round exits from postseason play.
“We’ve had those recent early exits in the playoffs, and we felt it was starting to show in our fan base,” said Penguins COO Travis Williams. “We realized that if we don’t treat the playoffs any differently from a business perspective, our fans are not going to either.”
Williams said that realization and subsequent discussions served to reinvigorate the Penguins staff, and it’s led to new ways to try to create a postseason frenzy in Pittsburgh.
While the team has held outdoor viewing parties since moving from Mellon Arena in 2010, as well as beginning work on a mixed-used development at a parcel near Consol Energy Center, the locations of those parties have fluctuated. This year, the Penguins decided to bring the screen right up into the stadium’s plaza outside of an entry gate. The team has created other fan experiences and activations at the arena’s other entry points, creating what Williams said is a “carnival atmosphere” around the facility.
Adding to the atmosphere inside the arena has been the team’s T-shirt giveaway effort, which has been particularly colorful this year.
“We wanted everyone, whether they were watching the game with their new closest friends outside the stadium, or coming inside the Consol Energy Center, to experience and enjoy it,” said David Morehouse, Penguins president and CEO. “That energy has rubbed off on the season-ticket holders coming into the gate, and we’ve subsequently had our largest and loudest crowds yet.”
