The 2023-24 NHL season kicks off next week with a trio of games Tuesday night, including a faceoff between the league’s two newest teams, the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken. It is one of the NHL’s hottest tickets given the Knights will raise their Stanley Cup banner; the average price sold on StubHub so far: $465.
Vegas is the NHL’s most in-demand team this season, according to StubHub’s preseason ticket report. It is the fourth time the Knights have topped the list since the club started play in 2017, joining ’17, 2018 and 2019, and sales are up nearly 200% versus last year, bettering the second-ranked Toronto Maple Leafs by 30%. The Boston Bruins ranked first last year.
More from Sportico.com
“They do a great job with their overall in-game experience, as they need to compete with the other shows,” Adam Budelli, StubHub executive said in a phone interview. “They have a lot of interest from people that travel to Vegas, but they have done a great job growing their own fan base as well.”
StubHub’s data shows the NHL could be in for a strong season, as we just saw with MLB posting its largest attendance spike in 30 years. No, the NHL goals are not getting bigger, but preseason ticket sales are up 88% compared to this same period last year. The Kraken, New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks are StubHub’s top trending teams. “We are really seeing more demand to get out for live events,” Budelli said.
Kraken sales on StubHub are up nearly 800%, coming off a playoff appearance in the franchise’s second season. Part of that dramatic rise is a result of hosting this year’s Winter Classic on Jan. 1 against the Golden Knights. It is the most in-demand game this season, as measured by dollar sales on StubHub. Connor Bedard’s debut for the Chicago Blackhawks in Boston ranks second, followed by the Knights’ home opener, and then Bedard’s home debut in Chicago.
Original Six teams Toronto, Boston, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens comprise the rest of the top five of most in-demand teams after Vegas. Toronto also ranked second last year, but sales have increased 91%. The Bruins are coming off a historic season with a record 135-point total and drive the highest average ticket price as an away team.
The NHL’s Global Series returned last year after a two-year hiatus, but ticket buying for this year’s version in Sweden has surged with the Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings among the four teams playing across a four-game slate (the NHL also played a pair of preseason games in Australia). Sales for the series on StubHub are up two-and-a-half times last year, with buyers from 22 countries.
Best of Sportico.com
Click here to read the full article.
