Merch sales from Game 1 were enough to cover the $500,000 league fee for the home playoff gameGETTY IMAGES
The first Stanley Cup Final game at T-Mobile Arena showed that the Golden Knights "scored big in the financial scoreboard," according to Alan Snel of LVSPORTSBIZ.com. Golden Knights Chair & CEO Bill Foley said that ticket revenue for the game generated 300% "more income than a regular season game." He added that 35% of gross ticket revenues will "go to the players, while the home team pays $500,000 per playoff game to the NHL." Foley said that per capita spending on merchandise in the arena was "$33 a person, which translates into $612,975 based on an announced attendance of 18,575." In other words, the merch sales from Game 1 "could cover the $500,000 league fee for the home playoff game." Postseason gameday revenues in Vegas are running 350% higher "over regular season game revenues." Foley also "advised staff that he does not want so many fans in opposition team jerseys filling seats at T-Mobile Arena like they did during this past regular season and was concerned that there were blocks of red-clad Washington Capitals fans in the venue for Game 1." Foley: "I don't like it." Foley said that he "wants blocks of tickets sold on StubHub, the team's secondary ticket partner, to be split up." Foley: "I can move around the ticket locations. I don't want to see them together." Foley estimated about 2,000 fans in T-Mobile Arena on Monday "were Capitals fans" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 5/29).
SIN CITY SHOW BUSINESS: The NATIONAL POST's Michael Traikos writes the Golden Knights "do their pregame show like no other because they play in a city that is like no other in the NHL." Golden Knights performer Lee Orchard said, "There are some people who don't like the show -- but the 18,000 people inside the arena love it, which is all that matters. I compare it to a cult. If you're in the cult, you love it. If you're not in the cult, you think it's really weird" (NATIONAL POST, 5/30). In Toronto, Dave Feschuk writes under the header "Vegas Becomes Win City For Bettman." Feschuk: "There isn't a market in Canada, perhaps outside of Winnipeg, that can boast the kind of in-arena energy on offer in Vegas." It is "not just the kitschy pre-game shows and the sellout crowds." The city's sports fans have "reportedly spent the spring lining up en masse to spend absurd amounts of money at the team's merchandise store" (TORONTO STAR, 5/30).
ON THIN ICE: In Las Vegas, Jesse Granger writes the ice at T-Mobile Arena has been "superb throughout the regular season and playoffs." But players said that Game 1 "fell short of the usually high standards." Golden Knights LW David Perron: "It's been unbelievable all year, but it was a little bit sticky." Granger notes the temperature is "only going up in Las Vegas, and it's expected to be 100 degrees for puck drop of Game 2 tonight." T-Mobile Arena Dir of Conversion Services George Salami said that the arena has "taken all precautions needed" to keep the heat from permeating the building (LAS VEGAS SUN, 5/30). Also in Las Vegas, Steve Carp writes bouncing pucks and players "losing their edges" made for some "frustrating moments for both teams" in Game 1. Several times during the game, the ice crew had to "come out and do patch work around the blue Stanley Cup Final logo near the blue lines along with other areas." Salami "insists the surface was not an issue." Salami huddled with NHL Operations Manager Dan Craig to "review the integrity of the playing surface." Salami said that the league "gave the sheet high marks." Salami: "They had no complaints whatsoever" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/30).
