Hurricanes restrict ticket sales for series against Rangers

The Carolina Hurricanes enjoy one of the most raucous and intimidating home atmospheres in the NHL at PNC Arena, and they want to keep it that way.

To that end, the Hurricanes are restricting sales of tickets for their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series against the New York Rangers to those with addresses where the majority of Carolina's fans live.

Tickets are only available to fans from North Carolina, South Carolina and select parts of Virginia, according to a disclaimer on Ticketmaster.

The same thing occurred for the 2022 series between the two teams. The Rangers won that series in seven games.

Via Julian McKenzie of The Athletic, the disclaimer on Ticketmaster reads: “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.”

There are no such restrictions for the games at New York's Madison Square Garden. The Rangers, as the higher-seeded team, will host Games 1 and 2, as well as 5 and 7 if necessary.

The strategy is a growing practice in the NHL, though.

For Game 6 of the Canucks-Predators series in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Predators are limiting 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 restricted sales of tickets on a geographical basis.