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The Florida Panthers are gearing up for a second-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team is taking extreme measures to ensure it has home ice advantage.
While the seven-game set kicks off north of the border, Games 3 and 4 will be held in the Sunshine State. The FLA Live Arena is reportedly limiting tickets for Maple Leafs fans.
Fans are posting images of the Ticketmaster website showing their attempted purchases for Game 3 in Florida. Those from outside the US appear to be getting an error message.
Ticketmaster is limiting tickets to Florida Panthers’ games against the Toronto Maple Leafs to “residents of the United States.”
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/twHWElt8c8
— Ahmar Khan (@AhmarSKhan) May 1, 2023
“FLA Live Arena is located in Sunshine, Florida. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of the United States. Residency will be based off credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside the United States will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”
Apparently, the Panthers are limiting ticket sales to US residents, which conveniently omits a majority of Toronto fans. Many were quick to react to the limitations on social media.
One fan asked, “Is this a move to preserve home ice advantage?” Someone else said, “I find it very sad when teams do these things.”
Others called the move “ridiculous” and “frustrating,” though there were many to point out that this isn’t the first case.
Many teams do this. Nashville, Chicago, St Louis to name a few. Teams have demand and can sell to their own markets so they do this
— Jaggar 🇨🇦 (@Jagg4r) May 1, 2023
The Panthers are fresh off an impressive come-from-behind series win over Boston after falling behind 3-1 in the set. In a decisive Game 7, Florida scored in the final minute to force OT before winning in extra time.
That said, the team went just 1-2 at home. The Panthers also lost both of their regular season contests against the Maple Leafs in Florida.
We’ll see if this has any effect on the outcome of the series, or the home ice advantage in Game 3.