SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) 鈥� The on-ice success story for the Florida Panthers is easy to see: They鈥檙e one win away from a second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
The off-ice success isn鈥檛 hard to figure out, either.
With a 26th sellout of the season expected for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday night, when the Panthers play host to the New York Rangers, Florida has already lured more fans to its rink this year than in any other in the team鈥檚 30-season history. And the team鈥檚 ticket revenue has climbed 50% from where it was just two years ago, according to data shared with The Associated Press.
鈥淚f you win and you build a good program, you create an expanded fan base that isn鈥檛 necessarily then going to fluctuate with wins and losses all the time,鈥� Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. 鈥淵ou have to, over time, play an exciting game of hockey. But I鈥檇 like to feel that we鈥檙e part of something with deep enough roots that we would be considered a model franchise.鈥�
That phrase 鈥� 鈥渕odel franchise鈥� 鈥� was not one that anyone in hockey would tag the Panthers with a few years ago. Relocation rumors, despite the team steadfastly saying they were totally untrue, were constant. The home rink was half-empty, at best, much of the time.
Those days are long gone.
鈥淲e've had some great turnouts throughout these playoffs so far,鈥� Panthers forward Steven Lorentz said.
Florida will play its 50th home game of the season on Saturday night, tying last year鈥檚 team for the second-most in club history. If Florida makes the Stanley Cup Final, there is a chance that the Panthers鈥� total home attendance could top the 1 million mark for the first time; it鈥檒l be somewhere around 940,000 for the season when all the tickets for Game 6 against the Rangers are counted.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been great for us all season,鈥� Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said.
No NHL team saw a bigger jump in regular season average home attendance this year than the Panthers, whose numbers in that department went up nearly 12% over last season. Over a two-year span, that number is up 25% 鈥� and corporate partnership revenue is up by more than 120% from where it was in 2022, the team said.
Add it all up 鈥� the wins, the deep playoff runs, the sellouts, the opening earlier this year of with fan-friendly amenities such as a store and restaurant in downtown Fort Lauderdale, more and more sponsor deals 鈥� and it becomes obvious that Florida is enjoying a run from the business standpoint like never before.
鈥淵ou have to play a style of game that if you鈥檙e going to spend your money and you鈥檙e going to go to the rink in February, you鈥檝e got a real good chance of being entertained,鈥� Maurice said. 鈥淎nd I think these men do that.鈥�
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AP NHL playoffs: and
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
