Florida Panthers Not Allowing Ticket Sales Outside of U.S.

The Florida Panthers just pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. Taking down President's Trophy winner's Boston in 7 games was no small task. Now the Cats have Austin Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs waiting. The first two games will be in Toronto at Skotiabank Arena before changing to FLA Live Arena in Sunrise. The Panthers are pulling a fast one on one of the biggest fan bases in the league. The Florida Panthers are not allowing ticket sales outside of the U.S.. South Florida is not a hockey hot bed, especially when compared to Toronto. But this is weak by the Panthers. You just got done playing the Boston Bruins, another original 6 franchise and a very vocal fan base, and didn't pull these shenanigans.

The official post is found on ticketmaster.com. Before buying, users are shown a message with the following "Primary sales to this event will be restricted to residents of the United States. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders for primary tickets by residents outside of the United States will be canceled without notice and refunds given." The bottom of the same pop-up says that resale tickets are available for all users. I am assuming this means Leafs fans with a Canadian credit card billing address can purchase via the secondary market. But the Panthers have to know about the thousands of Canadians with homes across South Florida, right? The Florida Panthers not allowing ticket sales outside of the U.S. to keep Leafs fans out of the building will not work. They will show up in huge numbers. But that doesn't mean the Panthers can't pull the upset.

We are three weeks into the new Major League Baseball season. We were wondering with the new MLB rules: How's attendance? New MLB rules have sped up the game and condensed all of the action. A pitch clock keeps pitchers and hitters alike on their toes and ready for action. Also, the pitcher is limited to how many times he can throw to first to keep a runner close to the bag. I personally think this creates a huge disadvantage for the pitcher and catcher. But the upside is that stolen bases are way up. Again, more action is good, ultimately. The stolen base was becoming a lost art in the game.

Other rules include the sport getting rid of the full defensive shift. Now we have more singles punching through the infield. Baseball was getting to the point where everything was either a homer or a strike out. Boring!

The end result is the fan now gets tow watch a game in about two hours and forty minutes instead of three to four hour marathons.

So baseball is better. Great. Have the new rules helped attendance? Since northern teams are still playing in the snow, if at all, it's hard to tell. But through the first three weeks of the season we've ranked team's average attendance from worst to first on a per game basis. So with the new MLB rules: How's attendance? Judge for yourself.

-Craig Shemon
ESPN Southwest Florida

11,025
They are moving to Vegas anyway.

13,143
Not quite the World Baseball Classic.

15,645

15,874

16,973
This city loves opening day. Then it drops out until summer.

18,085
THERE SHOULD BE MORE PEOPLE! THIS TEAM IS GOOD!

19,346
Can't talk me into going to an April game in Cleveland.

19,475

19, 476
I've seen their games. This includes season ticket no-shows.

19,567

21,285

21,621

23,337

24,705

27,395
Deion Sanders is outdrawing the Rockies with Colorado spring football.

28,578

29,214
They love their Brewers.

31,363
Ferris?

31,559

31,658

34,443
They have the two best players in the league. They should draw. I always enjoyed my time at their games.

35,913
They paid a lot of money for this team. People better show up.

36,537

37,261
Always strong numbers in Houston.

38,482
They are good so people are coming.

39,457
Strong fan base for all sports.

39,559
No surprise here.

39,881
Maybe the smartest fans in baseball.

40,342
Pay them and they will come.

49,418
Another beautiful day for baseball. Every. Day.

https://espnswfl.com/listicle/the-price-of-a-beer-at-every-major-league-baseball-stadium-in-2023/