With the Leafs’ advancing to the second round after a 19-year drought, the next round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will see the Florida Panthers take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the playoffs, home-ice advantage is everything. This is something the Panthers have seemed to pick up on, with the organization restricting sales on Ticketmaster to residents of the U.S. only.
Sorry, Leafs fans.
Canadian fans looking to cheer on The Buds at an away game in Florida will have to find another way to secure seats, with Ticketmaster posting a note stating, “Orders by residents outside of the United States will be cancelled without notice and refunds given.” The site says that residency is based on users’ credit card billing addresses.
The restrictions only cover attempted purchases on Ticketmaster, meaning that fans can still purchase tickets through third-party vendors or on secondary apps, albeit for inflated rates.
The Panthers aren’t the first team to deploy this strategy. Teams from all different sports have limited ticket sales to home fans in order to prevent a flood of away fans that could effectively eliminate any home-field advantage. Florida games are historically known to house fans of Canadian teams, most notably those on vacation during the cold months.
Although it’s been done before, Leaf fans will no doubt feel hard done by, with the Edmonton Oilers facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights without any ticket restrictions.
Leaf fans who are now looking for another way to watch their team’s path to the Stanley Cup will now have to explore some of the other ways to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Canada.
The Leafs kick off the series at home on May 2nd at 7pm ET/4pm PT.
ngImage credit: Shutterstock
Source: Ticketmaster Via: Sportsnet
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