Eighty percent of T-Mobile Arena's 17,500 seats are set aside for full-season ticket holdersGETTY IMAGES
Golden Knights VP/Ticketing & Suites Todd Pollock said the team "reached our capacity" for '18-19 season-ticket sales by mid-March, according to a front-page piece by Eli Segall of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Pollock said that 80% of the seats in T-Mobile Arena -- which has a capacity of 17,500 -- are "set aside for full-season ticket holders." Other seats "will go on sale this summer when the NHL releases team schedules." The early sellout "appears to be another sign of the booming business the Knights have built, alongside league-leading merchandise sales and lucrative ticket prices, after the team shattered expectations for first-year NHL teams." Pollock said that the team has been taking season-ticket deposits "since last October, when the current season began." Pollock added that the typical price increase is about 7%, and among "buyers with a one-year package for only the inaugural season" -- about 25% of season ticket holders -- "well over" 90% renewed their tickets (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/5).
FEEL-GOOD STORY: The Golden Knights last night advanced to the Western Conference finals, and USA TODAY's Kevin Allen lists reasons why fans "should root for" the team to win the Stanley Cup. The team "played its first regular-season home game while the city was grieving the loss of 58 victims of a mass shooting at a nearby outdoor concert venue." Players "made efforts to help any way they could, including an opening-night ceremony that honored the victims and first responders, and a special bond was formed with the community." Another reason is Golden Knights G Marc-Andre Fleury, one of the team's most popular players, "now holds that status leaguewide." Fleury's jersey ranks "among the NHL's top sellers," and he is a marketer's "dream as a likable star who connects with the public." Attending a Golden Knights game is "like nothing you've seen before." It is "theater as much as it is sports." On the ice, the Golden Knights are a "speedy, skating team with a relentless pursuit of [the] puck." In their first season, they are "hard to play against and mesmerizing to watch." Even the team's Twitter account is "clever and glib" (USA TODAY, 5/7).
