The Florida Panthers don’t want to be seeing blue when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Panthers shocked the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in Game 7 of their first-round series on Sunday, so they’ll be going up against the Leafs in the second round. The series will kick off with Games 1 and 2 on Tuesday and Thursday and then it’ll shift down to the Sunshine State for Games 3 and 4.
In order to try to avoid a Toronto takeover of their home arena, the Panthers have limited ticket sales exclusively to residents of the United States. When looking to purchase tickets for Games 3 and 4 in Florida from the Panthers’ team-affiliated Ticketmaster page, this ‘Important Event Info’ prompt comes up letting users know of the restriction…
FLA Live Arena is located in Sunrise, Florida. 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 presale will end on May 2nd, 2023 at 11 AM. Resale tickets are available for all buyers.
There’s also a movement on social media by Panthers fans uring season ticket holders to avoid selling tickets that they aren’t able to use on resale websites or to Leafs fans…
Panthers season ticket holders: Please do not sell your tickets on any resale site. If you’re going to sell them, sell them to a Panthers fan. Offer them here. We need the arena to be a sea of red. Not Toronto blue. Sunrise does not have to become Toronto South. #TimeToHunt
— Barry Rothman (@BarryARothman) May 1, 2023
Given fans can still buy tickets on resale websites and many Snowbird Leafs fans own residencies in the United States, there will still surely be a significant presence of blue at FLA Live Arena during this series. It’ll be interesting to see if the Panthers opt to ban fans from wearing the opposing team’s jersey, as the Tampa Bay Lightning did in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final to avoid their stadium being filled with New York Rangers fans.
The Leafs and Panthers have never met in the playoffs before but Florida has played in the Atlantic Division with Toronto long enough to know how well their fans travel. The fact that this is the first time the Leafs have advanced beyond the first round since 2004 adds fuel to the desire for fans to attend a game in any way they can.
