Great Outdoors: Penguins Fans Gather For Viewing Parties
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Thousands Of Penguins Fans Turning Out To
Watch Playoff Games Outside Of Mellon Arena |
Fans have been gathering in “large numbers” to watch the Penguins’ Stanley Cup playoff games on a 12-foot by 16-foot LED screen set up outside of Mellon Arena’s Gate 3 entrance, with crowds growing from several hundred for Game One of the team’s first-round series against the Senators to an estimated 3,500 for the team’s quarterfinal series-clinching win against the Rangers Sunday, according to Mark Belko of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Penguins officials are expecting “at least another 3,500” for Friday’s Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Flyers, and “perhaps even more as the series progresses.” The crowds have “exceeded their expectations.” Penguins President David Morehouse: “It’s become a phenomenon itself.” The Penguins estimate that they can fit “up to 4,000 fans” outside Gate 3. And Morehouse said that the team has “looked for ways to expand the viewing area, even walking around the arena one day this week to scout out other possible locations, but found ‘no space that works quite as well.’” Morehouse said that adding another screen outside of another gate “could cause problems with crowd control and interfere with the efforts of ticket-buying fans to get in and out of the arena.” Morehouse: “We thought about potentially putting the space somewhere else where there was more room. But we think that would take away from the game-day experience at the arena, where you can actually hear the crowd when goals are scored.” Belko notes alcohol is prohibited in the viewing area and the team has asked fans not to bring grills or tents “for safety reasons.” The Penguins sell concessions and “will begin offering some merchandise with the start of the Flyers’ series.” Morehouse said that the Penguins have “gotten inquiries from other professional sports teams about the idea.” He added that the team is "looking for ways to incorporate an outdoor viewing area in the planning" of the team's new arena (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/9).
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