Canadian hockey fans flocked to StubHub to buy "tickets to the home opener" and first home preseason NHL game for the Golden Knights yesterday, and the expansion club currently is the No. 1 NHL team in "terms of overall StubHub ticket sales headed into this season," according to David Shoalts of the GLOBE & MAIL. For the preseason debut yesterday, 24% of sales for game at T-Mobile Arena against the Kings "were to Canadian customers." For the regular season, the Golden Knights on StubHub are on pace to "outsell the second-place" Rangers by 96%. StubHub Communications Manager Cameron Papp said that there was an "explosion in demand among Canadians for the Golden Knights" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/27). In Las Vegas, Jesse Granger notes the Golden Knights are in "seven of the top 10 most in-demand games in the NHL, including three of the top four." That is "partially because of the hype surrounding the NHL’s newest franchise, but it likely has more to do with the destination city it plays in." The average price of tickets sold to the Golden Knights home opener on Oct. 10 is $227, "second in the league" only to the Red Wings first regular season game at Little Caesars Arena against the Wild on Oct. 5 ($265) (LAS VEGAS SUN, 9/27).
ICING ON TOP: ESPN.com's Darren Rovell noted the Golden Knights have put the names of their inaugural season-ticket holders "into a layer of ice" at T-Mobile Arena. The team "took photos of the process because the names will not be visible because of NHL regulations." Golden Knights CMO Brian Killingsworth said that the team worked with the NHL to "execute the idea while making sure the league was happy about the integrity of the ice surface." The Sharks last month also announced that every season-ticket holder's name "would be placed on the concrete that the ice lays on" (ESPN.com, 9/25). YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski wrote there is a "kinship between every expansion team and their fans," but it might not have been "captured quite like this" in the past (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/25). Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Alan Snel noted the Golden Knights next week will unveil their team mascot (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 9/25).
KNIGHT RIDERS: BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK's Paul Brownfield reported local support for the Golden Knights has a "more muted, we’re-all-pulling-for-you air, as if the team were a civic light opera." Caesars Entertainment bought Golden Knights tickets, which range from $50 to $650, to "provide as comps for loyal patrons, but the company passed on the $140,000 to $160,000 suites." The team will have "five Saturday night home games this season, among the fewest in the league." That is "because for many in Las Vegas, weekends are weekdays." Meanwhile, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that he will "simply ask" MGM Chair Jim Murren to "remove home games from casinos adjacent to the arena, the Monte Carlo and New York, New York." Most observers "think the Golden Knights will be given a honeymoon season and then be put on the clock" (BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, 9/26 issue).
