The Carolina Hurricanes are looking to preserve their home-ice advantage — again.
Ticket sales for Carolina home games in its second-round series against the New York Rangers are being restricted to fans from North Carolina, South Carolina, and select parts of Virginia, according to a disclaimer on Ticketmaster. It is a repeat of the 2022 series between the teams, when fans from outside those regions were delivered a similar notice. The Rangers won that series in seven games.
Fans from outside those areas will likely need to resort to the secondary market for tickets, as they’ll be met with this disclaimer on Ticketmaster: “PNC Arena is located in Raleigh, N.C. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and southern parts of Virginia. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside North Carolina, South Carolina and southern parts of Virginia will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”
As of Thursday, there were no ticket restrictions for Madison Square Garden, the Rangers’ home arena in New York City. The Rangers, as the higher-seeded team, will host Games 1 and 2, as well as 5 and 7 if necessary.
Carolina’s move is not an uncommon practice for NHL teams. The Nashville Predators, who host the Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of a first-round series Friday, are restricting home ticket sales to fans in the Nashville television viewing area, including customers in southern U.S. states like Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Last season, the Florida Panthers restricted ticket sales to U.S. residents for 24 hours before their second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Buffalo Sabres limited ticket sales to New York state residents for select regular-season games, and the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators have also placed geographic restrictions on tickets in the past.
In the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers took a different approach after New York Knicks fans made their presence felt during their first-round series. Sixers ownership and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin are buying and distributing 2,000 tickets to first responders, health care professionals and other Philadelphia-based organizations.
The Hurricanes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Top photo: Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images)
