HFDevils Official Tickets and Prudential Center thread

[Homedresser]

Holy Sh-t. So yesterday, I took a screen print from ticketmaster of some seats and their prices that are first issued Devils seats, not STH resales, curious to see what the prices would be today based on whatever the result would be. Well, you should see what the prices are now:
Section 6: Yesterday - $425, Today - $705
Section 1: Yesterday - $470, Today - $605
Section 9: Yesterday - $525, Today - $805
Section 19: Yesterday - $625, Today - $905

Again, these are not the STH resale tickets. This is the Devils initial pricing and the pricing now.

But yeah, there were no strips available for partial plan holders. Phuckers.

This organization has never been able to properly manage playoff ticket sales. All anyone will talk about are all the blue jerseys in the lower tier when the highlights come on. Putting DEVILS fans in seats at this point is not their goal. They will take immediate profits over long term brand building everytime. They had one chance to get lifetime credibilty from their fanbase after a decade of ineptitude. I'm curious if they revert bac to putting sales staff in seats with Devils Tshirts to try and save some embarrasment. Make no mistake the building is going to be overrun with blueshirts.

 

[HellOnIce]

How would the Devils prevent Rangers fans from buying ticlets? Turning away Blue jerseys? There's no other way. The pricing is the pricing, Devils fans can buy them just as much as Rangers fans can.

 

[Call Me Al]

How would the Devils prevent Rangers fans from buying ticlets? Turning away Blue jerseys? There's no other way. The pricing is the pricing, Devils fans can buy them just as much as Rangers fans can.

but the devils are pricing them favorably compared to MSG prices so it is the more desirable option for rangers fans. On top of that, they let all season ticket holders purchase an extra 4 seats at a discounted price for the playoffs which encourages scalping, especially for the rangers series (but also for the rest of the playoffs because the prices are so low comparatively). any season ticket holder who doesn't need more seats than they already have were able to purchase tickets to scalp and recoup their costs, those are available to rangers and devils fans equally.

On top of that, they didn't allow partial plan holders to purchase full playoff packages so it makes it harder for number of loyal fans from being able to lock down seats for themselves. the easiest thing to do would be to let anyone who purchased a plan this season to be able to buy a full playoff package, but they didn't do that at all, they just let them buy them at a humongous markup earlier, and only one game at a time and only the first round.

basically they flooded the market with scalpable tickets at a desirable price for rangers fans while limiting the opportunity for a greater number of devils fans to get in.

 

[indfin]

How would the Devils prevent Rangers fans from buying ticlets? Turning away Blue jerseys? There's no other way. The pricing is the pricing, Devils fans can buy them just as much as Rangers fans can.

What the Devils could have done is allowed partial plan holders (and others who bought a # of individual games, as they had that data) the opportunity to purchase strips at a reasonable price above full sths, but below "market" (for Rangers as an opponent. More than fair in exchange for multi-round commitment. Instead, they allowed full sths to purchase additional strips (by this time, a Rangers matchup looked very likely) at a cost that is a fraction of what the team is asking for individual games. That's why the Ticketmaster map (as of yesterday) showed probably 75% of available seats being verified resale (most of these were put up even before the public sale).

So someone who had even a single season ticket could buy up to FOUR more seats (albeit committing to every game). Many (most?) of those extras are now up for resale. At the sth pricing for the first round, that person could probably pay for most of their season by selling the additional ones.

Basically, the Devils took (very good) care of full sths ... screwed partial plan holders ... and is gouging them (and everyone else). In the free-for-all of the secondary market, the Rangers have: a) more fans; b) probably a wealthier fan base; and c) a fan base that is used to paying these kids of prices (and would have to pay much more to get into MSG).

The Devils know this ... they don't care. Should they? In the short run, maybe not, as this will maximize their playoff revenue this year. Should they have left some money on the table to get more Devils fans in the building for home-ice advantage? Maybe, but unlike the prior owner (and I am not suggesting that the prior owner was better, overall, for the franchise), they are not fans first (or maybe at all).

However, they may have made a big mistake going forward. I am not sure why anyone would ever buy a partial plan again ... maybe this tactic bullies some into becoming full sths ... but I think they lose more than they gain, and those folks will probably just go to secondary market for their ticket needs next year.

The 20 sellouts this year was a mirage. A significant # of tickets were comped to full season ticket holders through their renewal perks and the rewards program. i probably had far fewer points than some, and I ended up with 20-something free tickets, including Club seats for at least 3 games.

 

[Colin226]

How would the Devils prevent Rangers fans from buying ticlets? Turning away Blue jerseys? There's no other way. The pricing is the pricing, Devils fans can buy them just as much as Rangers fans can.

In terms of individual ticket sales on Ticketmaster, sure they can't prevent Rags fans from buying. But they can do things like offering discounted tickets first to people who bought ticket plans and multiple non-Ranger games this season (they heavily limited availability of these). Or people who commit to larger ticket plans for next season (which I'm sure they did though I haven't heard anyone say they bought playoff tix this way). Or people who have been subscribed to the newsletter for an extended period of time. Maybe even people who have entered multiple contests during the year. Even as a STH, I didn't have much chance to buy additional strips. Back in March my rep sent me a link to view available seats/strips for the entire playoffs and there were only a handful available in the 100s, mainly individual seats not even pairs. They seemed to hold back a ton of inventory to sell individually to anyone.

That said, I think the team decided to do what Bruce Springsteen did for his tour this year: rather than selling tickets at a "reasonable price" below market value, and then seeing some of those people flip them on the open market for an easy profit, they decided to just sell them directly at market value and let whoever wants to buy them have at it. Unfortunately, you're always going to have entrepreneurs looking to take advantage and make a quick buck, even if they're Devils fans. I paid $55 for my seat in 101 for this series, but I could make at least $200 per game right now if I sold them. So I don't really blame the team for taking the money even if it means a lot of Rangers fans can buy directly. Our players have proven they don't care and maybe even elevate their game more because of it.

 

[SETHROLLINS]

How would the Devils prevent Rangers fans from buying ticlets? Turning away Blue jerseys? There's no other way. The pricing is the pricing, Devils fans can buy them just as much as Rangers fans can.

It wouldn't prevent them from buying but the Lightning in the past have specified for the playoffs one of their clubs in the arena as not allowing away fans jerseys to be worn. Not sure how I feel about that one.

 

[Unknown Caller]

In fairness, it's not on the organization to keep Rangers fans out. Devils fans need to step up and buy the tickets and show some initiative to keep Rangers fans out of the building, but unfortunately we don't do it.

This is exactly why I wanted zero part of the Rangers in the first round. It would have been nice if we could have had a regular home playoff environment for our first real playoff team in 11 years.

 

[dougiebrown]

What the Devils could have done is allowed partial plan holders (and others who bought a # of individual games, as they had that data) the opportunity to purchase strips at a reasonable price above full sths, but below "market" (for Rangers as an opponent. More than fair in exchange for multi-round commitment. Instead, they allowed full sths to purchase additional strips (by this time, a Rangers matchup looked very likely) at a cost that is a fraction of what the team is asking for individual games. That's why the Ticketmaster map (as of yesterday) showed probably 75% of available seats being verified resale (most of these were put up even before the public sale).

So someone who had even a single season ticket could buy up to FOUR more seats (albeit committing to every game). Many (most?) of those extras are now up for resale. At the sth pricing for the first round, that person could probably pay for most of their season by selling the additional ones.

Basically, the Devils took (very good) care of full sths ... screwed partial plan holders ... and is gouging them (and everyone else). In the free-for-all of the secondary market, the Rangers have: a) more fans; b) probably a wealthier fan base; and c) a fan base that is used to paying these kids of prices (and would have to pay much more to get into MSG).

The Devils know this ... they don't care. Should they? In the short run, maybe not, as this will maximize their playoff revenue this year. Should they have left some money on the table to get more Devils fans in the building for home-ice advantage? Maybe, but unlike the prior owner (and I am not suggesting that the prior owner was better, overall, for the franchise), they are not fans first (or maybe at all).

However, they may have made a big mistake going forward. I am not sure why anyone would ever buy a partial plan again ... maybe this tactic bullies some into becoming full sths ... but I think they lose more than they gain, and those folks will probably just go to secondary market for their ticket needs next year.

The 20 sellouts this year was a mirage. A significant # of tickets were comped to full season ticket holders through their renewal perks and the rewards program. i probably had far fewer points than some, and I ended up with 20-something free tickets, including Club seats for at least 3 games.

Beautifully and perfectly said.
I'm not going to share with you the name of the rep, but will share part of what he/she actually said to me in an email about the partial plans:

"You and other partial plan members did receive priority before the general public going on sale today.

Again, there is extreme benefit (I bolded and italicized for emphasis) in being a partial plan member, however with the demand, all round playoff packages went extremely quickly."

Pissed off, I sent this reply, to which he/she never responded (not that I expected him/her to).

"Please. Stop. There's no "extreme" benefit. What I was promised when I signed up for my plan was not delivered. You gave us access to dynamically priced tickets by you and STH's FOR ONE HOUR prior to Newsletter folks. That's it. And the majority of those tickets will still be part of the public on-sale, so stop trying to tell me/us that it's an "extreme" benefit. You could have blocked some of these seats for partial plan holders. You did not. You dynamically priced them when STH's posted their additionally purchased tickets for resale.

Also, I received ZERO notification of playoff tickets, period. There had to have been emails sent out prior to access code emails explaining what the process would be. If there was, I received nothing.

There was no priority. There was an hour of access to scalping priced tickets. That's it. Partial Plan holders got screwed. STH's think we got screwed. Regular fans who know we deserve actual priority know we got screwed. One group of people don't think we got screwed:

YOU/The Devils.

Michael, and yes, I will be telling people to stay away from Partial Plans and steering them towards secondary sites going forward."

 

[indfin]

In fairness, it's not on the organization to keep Rangers fans out. Devils fans need to step up and buy the tickets and show some initiative to keep Rangers fans out of the building, but unfortunately we don't do it.

This is exactly why I wanted zero part of the Rangers in the first round. It would have been nice if we could have had a regular home playoff environment for our first real playoff team in 11 years.

Agreed ... mostly. They screwed over some of their loyal fans (partial plan holders, in particular, and arguably others who regularly purchase individual games). They sold partial plan holders on playoff priority/access ...and gave them nothing ... at all.

Also - they played both sides of the fence. They were clearly concerned about demand for non-Rangers games, so they let full sths buy up to 4 additional seats for every game ... provided that they committed to all 16 (potential) games. Based on the ticket resale map even prior to the public sale ... it worked. They sold a ton of 16-game strips at what turned out to be way below market value for round 1 ... and turned full sths into ticket brokers

The Devils got lucky with the matchup. If it was Florida, they would probably be looking at $75 for a lot of these seats.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Welp, it may be a true 50/50 split in the stands.

Hope the teams slaps their lips off in games 1 and 2 so they die off later in the series.

 

[Homedresser]

In fairness, it's not on the organization to keep Rangers fans out. Devils fans need to step up and buy the tickets and show some initiative to keep Rangers fans out of the building, but unfortunately we don't do it.

This is exactly why I wanted zero part of the Rangers in the first round. It would have been nice if we could have had a regular home playoff environment for our first real playoff team in 11 years.

It's going to be one of the worst home enviroments ever for Devils home games in rd1. There must be over 3k seats on sale on TM right now.

 

[Satans Hockey]

How would the Devils prevent Rangers fans from buying ticlets? Turning away Blue jerseys? There's no other way. The pricing is the pricing, Devils fans can buy them just as much as Rangers fans can.

This is my dream. Visiting teams should get 1-3 lower level sections on their attack 2x side and based on demand. Nobody in opposing team gear allowed anywhere else.

It would be magical.

 

[Homedresser]

Agreed ... mostly. They screwed over some of their loyal fans (partial plan holders, in particular, and arguably others who regularly purchase individual games). They sold partial plan holders on playoff priority/access ...and gave them nothing ... at all.

Also - they played both sides of the fence. They were clearly concerned about demand for non-Rangers games, so they let full sths buy up to 4 additional seats for every game ... provided that they committed to all 16 (potential) games. Based on the ticket resale map even prior to the public sale ... it worked. They sold a ton of 16-game strips at what turned out to be way below market value for round 1 ... and turned full sths into ticket brokers

The Devils got lucky with the matchup. If it was Florida, they would probably be looking at $75 for a lot of these seats.

they got lucky $ wise but when the building is over run by blue shirts and Devils fans complain about a horrible experience after finally making the playoffs they will suffer next year. Why would anyone buy a partial plan?

 

[Satans Hockey]

It's going to be one of the worst home enviroments ever for Devils home games in rd1. There must be over 3k seats on sale on TM right now.

Welp, it may be a true 50/50 split in the stands.

Hope the teams slaps their lips off in games 1 and 2 so they die off later in the series.

3k is on par with the norm for almost any event in an arena.

There's never been a real 50/50 and this won't be either. 2008 game 5 at home was probably the worst it's ever been.

Not saying these prices are acceptable but idk why everyone acts like Devils fans don't have money, NJ is one of the wealthiest states in the country, plus a lot of these dirt bag rangers fans already live here too.

 

[indfin]

they got lucky $ wise but when the building is over run by blue shirts and Devils fans complain about a horrible experience after finally making the playoffs they will suffer next year. Why would anyone buy a partial plan?

I can't imagine that anyone would, after this year's experience. I think the Devils want to get rid of those plans completely ... hoping that the team's success will move (many of) these folks to full sths.

I think they should be more concerned about people who give up their partial plans and go to fewer individual games (and mostly through the secondary market), as that could cost them far more than the additional $$ they made on 2-4 games in Round 1. As i said elsewhere, announced attendance this year far exceeded paid attendance, and the timing of people emerging from the pandemic and the team being good (and exciting) for (just about) the first time in a decade helped a lot. They could have chosen to try to build steadily off of that, but instead went for the short-term score.

This ownership, more so that any prior, thinks that they can turn the Devils into a high-price, corporate fan base. It will never happen. There aren't that many Newark-based corporations, there are no conventions in Newark, and no tourists. And that's not going to change.

 

[CHIP72]

Game 1 will be Tuesday. Game 2 Thursday. Rest of schedule will come out Friday night.

I think it is very likely Game 3 at MSG will be on Saturday 4/22. The Knicks host the Cavaliers in Game 4 of their NBA playoff series at 1 PM on Sunday 4/23, and I'd be surprised if they schedule Game 3 of Devils/Rangers that night. If they did, it probably couldn't start before 7:30 PM.

There is a Billy Joel concert scheduled for 8 PM (7 PM doors) at MSG on Saturday 4/22, but if you look at the event page for that show on the MSG website, you'll see a note saying that concert could be postponed due to the playoffs. My guess is that show is postponed and Game 3 Devils/Rangers is a mid-afternoon or night game that day.

As for the rest of the series' games, if games are played every other day (Mon 4/24, Wed 4/26, Fri 4/28, Sun 4/30), Game 7 would be scheduled for Sunday 4/30. I think the NHL will want to wrap up the first round of the playoffs by no later than that date.

 

[CHIP72]

This may not be the appropriate thread to ask this question, but is anyone considering attending Games 3 and/or 4 at MSG? I'll be visiting family in the Lehigh Valley for a few days the end of next week (Thursday 4/20 to Sunday 4/23), and if Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday 4/22, a day currently open for me, I may give thought to pulling the trigger and going if the costs aren't quite as ridiculous as they are now. That's especially true if it is a mid-afternoon game and I can potentially do a doubleheader with Game 4 of the 76ers/Nets series in Brooklyn that is scheduled for a 1 PM start.

 

[HBK27]

If the Devils wanted to reduce the amount of Ranger fans in the building they could have put playoff tickets on sale earlier (before a Devils-Rangers matchup was almost locked in) and had a pre-sale for Devils fans at reasonable prices.

The Devils had something on their website where you could sign up for a pre-sale on playoff tickets, which I did, but I never received any e-mails either confirming that I signed up (which I did twice) or an e-mail with a code.

Devils have a list of people that have expressed interest in season tickets - wouldn't have been hard to reach out to these fans about playoff tickets if the goal was to not have a high number of Ranger fans in the house. But that is clearly not the goal - it's all about maximizing revenue, regardless of how many Ranger fans show up. It's a business, so I get it - but sucks a bit for the Devils fans that are there to have to deal with so many obnoxious Ranger fans. Hopefully they bring in extra security and the Devils play on the ice keeps them quiet.

 

[Satans Hockey]

This may not be the appropriate thread to ask this question, but is anyone considering attending Games 3 and/or 4 at MSG? I'll be visiting family in the Lehigh Valley for a few days the end of next week (Thursday 4/20 to Sunday 4/23), and if Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday 4/22, a day currently open for me, I may give thought to pulling the trigger and going if the costs aren't quite as ridiculous as they are now. That's especially true if it is a mid-afternoon game and I can potentially do a doubleheader with Game 4 of the 76ers/Nets series in Brooklyn that is scheduled for a 1 PM start.

Personally I have absolutely no desire to go to MSG. I didn't go to any games there in 2012 or 2008, I went to game 4 in 06 cause the prices plummeted and lots of Devils fans bought them up cause we were up 3-0.

Being up 3-0 is the only possible way and even then I doubt I'd bother.

I really just don't enjoy road games.

If the Devils wanted to reduce the amount of Ranger fans in the building they could have put playoff tickets on sale earlier (before a Devils-Rangers matchup was almost locked in) and had a pre-sale for Devils fans at reasonable prices.

The Devils had something on their website where you could sign up for a pre-sale on playoff tickets, which I did, but I never received any e-mails either confirming that I signed up (which I did twice) or an e-mail with a code.

Devils have a list of people that have expressed interest in season tickets - wouldn't have been hard to reach out to these fans about playoff tickets if the goal was to not have a high number of Ranger fans in the house. But that is clearly not the goal - it's all about maximizing revenue, regardless of how many Ranger fans show up. It's a business, so I get it - but sucks a bit for the Devils fans that are there to have to deal with so many obnoxious Ranger fans. Hopefully they bring in extra security and the Devils play on the ice keeps them quiet.

The last home game was pretty quiet in the stands with them.

I think with the cost of these tickets and it being a weekday it won't be very crazy. Not many people are looking to get thrown out after spending all this money lol

 

[Emperoreddy]

Bottom on stubhub seems to be $200 right now

 

[Louskoolaid89]

How would the Devils prevent Rangers fans from buying ticlets? Turning away Blue jerseys? There's no other way. The pricing is the pricing, Devils fans can buy them just as much as Rangers fans can.

No matter what your gonna have Rangers fans but, price gauging to astronomical levels only makes tickets more accessible to the bigger fan base. The more fans the higher percentage of fans will have the money to spend in order to go. Two teams in the same market should have bi-partisan crowds. It adds to the fun and atmosphere in my opinion but, being outnumbered in your own building is downright f***ing embarrassing especially in the post season where our fought for "home ice" advantage.

Bottom on stubhub seems to be $200 right now

Thats digestible if it's not another $70 in fees. I'm gonna do my damm best to make game 3 at MSG. Pending what is out there day of.

 

[Satans Hockey]

No matter what your gonna have Rangers fans but, price gauging to astronomical levels only makes tickets more accessible to the bigger fan base. The more fans the higher percentage of fans will have the money to spend in order to go. Two teams in the same market should have bi-partisan crowds. It adds to the fun and atmosphere in my opinion but, being outnumbered in your own building is downright f***ing embarrassing especially in the post season where our fought for "home ice" advantage.

We won't be outnumbered, I ain't worrying about it.

I know I'm probably in the minority but I absolutely hate sitting with other teams fans, I rarely find it fun nor enjoyable.

If I could go the rest of my life never having to talk to a rangers fan I would be all for it.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

We won't be outnumbered, I ain't worrying about it.

I know I'm probably in the minority but I absolutely hate sitting with other teams fans, I rarely find it fun nor enjoyable.

If I could go the rest of my life never having to talk to a rangers fan I would be all for it.

Yeah I like the idea of putting them in one location. That only would make them even louder. If we win it's fun to razz them on the way out. I just don't get rooting for the Rangers as a New Jersey native under the age of say 55. I'll take the old excuse. "I was a Rangers fan before the Devils arrived". Some punk ass kid from suburban NJ with a Panarin Jersey on makes me sick! They stink and I don't like them!

 

[Satans Hockey]

Yeah I like the idea of putting them in one location. That only would make them even louder. If we win it's fun to razz them on the way out. I just don't get rooting for the Rangers as a New Jersey native under the age of say 55. I'll take the old excuse. "I was a Rangers fan before the Devils arrived". Some punk ass kid from suburban NJ with a Panarin Jersey on makes me sick! They stink and I don't like them!

It's a family thing for most people, they want their kids to root for the same team they did. I totally get it from that aspect.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

It's a family thing for most people, they want their kids to root for the same team they did. I totally get it from that aspect.

Deffenilty understand that. I don't have kids but, they could root for anytime except for hockey! No niece or nephew of mine likes the Rangers. I influenced that