NHL teams
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN 6y

Golden Knights implement plan to limit visiting fans at playoff games

NHL, Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas Golden Knights home games were a party during the Knights' inaugural NHL season, not just for local fans but for thousands of visiting fans who turned a night in an opponent's rink into a multiday experience in Sin City.

On Monday, the Knights continued their historic expansion season and clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They then announced that visiting fans weren't invited to the postseason party.

"We're a destination city. During the regular season, it was a big part of our event experience. But the Stanley Cup playoffs, that's a different time," Vegas team president Kerry Bubolz told ESPN. "We want to do what we can to support the hockey side of our organization."

Which is why Vegas has asked the team's season-ticket holders to take the Knights Vow. In what Buboltz said is a first-of-its-kind program, Vegas enrolled all of its full-season-ticket holders in a program that prohibits them from reselling their playoff tickets on the secondary market -- in this case StubHub, the team's authorized partner and the only place fans can resell electronic Golden Knights tickets.

In exchange for vowing not to resell, these fans will pay about 25 percent above the average regular-season price. They can, however, opt out of the plan in order to have the opportunity to sell their tickets on StubHub but will pay a significantly higher price. Buboltz said that, for example, a $100 regular-season ticket would be $125 for those who take the Knights Vow, while those that opt out would pay $175.

It's a plan that keeps the team's secondary-ticket-selling partner involved but limits the opportunities for fans from potential first-round foes such as the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings to invade the arena.

"At the end of the day, we'll make less money with this strategy, but it's all about what's the best thing for our home-ice advantage," he said.

The Knights have monitored the reselling of their tickets throughout the season, as Vegas has played to a 103.8 percent capacity this season.

"We didn't get into the membership business so people can buy and then sell our tickets. We're trying to build a fan base here for the long term. So if we see something suspicious and profit motivated, we have a conversation with those individuals and reserve the right not to sell them tickets anymore," Bubolz said.

The Knights are also offering another unique deal for their season-ticket holders called Cheer Now, Pay Later that allows fans to attend first-round playoff games and then pay for the games after the series is completed.

"They were already committed to the playoffs, but they didn't know the prices, didn't know anything about it. We didn't want to carry a bunch of their financial resources. Enjoy the first round, then get the invoice, and then we'll go from there. We want to keep everybody focused on having fun during the playoffs."

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