Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs who hoped to travel south to attend a playoff game against the Florida Panthers will encounter an unexpected roadblock.
According to a notice on Ticketmaster’s website, tickets for the second round series will only be available to United States residents.
The American ticket company stated that a customer’s domicile will be determined by their credit card billing address.
In addition, Ticketmaster states that anyone attempting to purchase playoff tickets for the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida without a U.S. address will have their order annulled and receive a refund.
Despite the lack of clarity surrounding the decision’s rationale, the number of Leafs fans in attendance at away games in the first round in Tampa could explain the ticket-limitation strategy.
The restriction only applies to new ticket transactions and not to season-ticket holders who already have game passes, so the secondary market is unaffected.
Tickets for Game 3 in Florida are already on sale on sites such as StubHub, with the cheapest pair selling for $217 at the time of this writing. This is less than half the price of a ticket to Game 1 in Toronto, which costs $570.
CTV News Toronto has reached out to the Florida Panthers for comment, but no response has been received.
This is not the first time an NHL organisation has attempted to prevent away-team fans from purchasing tickets.
In 2013, the Ottawa Senators offered fans 15 percent off additional tickets to forthcoming home games against the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens, provided that the tickets were not resold to non-Sens fans.
This decision was influenced at least in part by the large number of Leafs fans who travelled east to attend their rivals’ home games, adding a sizeable blue-and-white contingent to the former Scotiabank Place’s red-and-black crowd.
The last time the Maple Leafs advanced to the second round of the playoffs was in 2004, when they eliminated the Ottawa Senators in Game 7.
This 19-year hiatus came to an end on Saturday, when the Maple Leafs won Game 6 of their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Maple Leafs will have home-ice advantage in their second-round series against the Florida Panthers, who eliminated the Boston Bruins in seven games on Sunday.
Game 1 goes Tuesday.
