NHL Fans React To Coyotes Charging Insane Amount For Tickets To New Arena

• It seems unlikely the Arizona Coyotes will solve their attendance woes next season
• Fans are shocked at the prices the team will charge to attend a game when it relocates to Arizona State’s arena next year
• Read more NHL news here

Last year, the Arizona Coyotes narrowly avoided befalling what would’ve been one of the most embarrassing fates a professional sports franchise has ever suffered when the team came this close to being locked out of its own arena in the middle of the season after falling behind on payments to the tune of $1.3 million.

While the organization was able to scrounge up the money, that only served as a tiny bandage on the gaping wound from which the team has hemorrhaged money since setting up shop in Phoenix in 1996 (the Coyotes have not had a single profitable season since making the move from Winnipeg and are currently listed as the least valuable franchise in the NHL).

An average of 11,400 fans have flocked to Gila River Arena over the course of the current campaign (only Buffalo and Ottawa sport worse attendance numbers), and that number is poised to get slashed in half in the coming years after the franchise struck a deal with Arizona State to play its next few seasons at a newly-completed arena on campus that boasts a 5,000-person capacity.

It’s certainly not an ideal situation, but the venue in Tempe will offer Coyotes fans (and, more notably, those who root for teams who are actually good at hockey) the chance to watch NHL-caliber talent face off in a uniquely cozy barn. However, anyone hoping to catch a game there will probably be less than thrilled with the ticket prices the team officially unveiled on Thursday.

The cheapest option will run you $110, but it appears the majority of tickets will set you back between $150 and $220 (seats on the glass are going for $445 a pop, although they do include food and beverage). If you’re curious, the least expensive ticket the team is selling for its remaining games at Gila River Arena will set you back $54.50, although people are reselling theirs for as low as $23 as of this writing.

As mentioned above, the intimate nature of games at the new rink will likely give some spectators some incentive to shell out more than they should, but it’s hard to imagine anyone who’s seen the product Arizona has put on the ice over the past decade would willingly shell out that much to attend showdowns on a regular basis.

It’s safe to say plenty of NHL fans are skeptical this is going to end well.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.