Nashville Predators Are Continuing Their Crusade To Keep Blackhawks Fans Out Of Bridgestone Arena
(CBS) The Predators are continuing their years-long crusade to keep visiting Blackhawks fans out of Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
As they've done in years past, the Predators are highly localizing their ticket sales to next Tuesday's game between the two teams, as first pointed out by the Tribune' Steve Rosenbloom. This campaign has been dubbed "keep the red out" in the past, and it makes it highly difficult for out-of-state/out-of-region fans to buy tickets.
This time around, here are the notable stipulations for buying a ticket to the Blackhawks-Predators game next Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena, per the team's website:
-- Sales are being restricted to residents of the Predators' television viewing area -- Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Residency is establish based on the credit card billing address.
-- Orders by residents outside the viewing area will be canceled without notice and refunds given.
-- On the secondary market, the Predators "require the original purchaser to produce the credit card used for purchase and a photo ID with a matching name before being allowed into the arena," the Tribune reported.
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce had no worry about the Predators keeping potential tourists away from the city.
"Given that 17 of the team's 21 home games this season have been sellouts, the Predators have been a 'tougher ticket' for hockey fans in Nashville as well as Chicago," Chamber of Commerce communications director Mark Drury wrote in an email. "Nashville annually hosts more than 13 million visitors, and our hospitality sector is a $5.5-billion dollar industry for our city. Even if you can't get tickets to the hockey game, we fully believe a visit to Nashville is well worth it."
This is just the latest in the Predators' fascination with keeping Blackhawks fans out of their home arena.
As far back as 2013, the Predators didn't allow single-game tickets to be purchased when the Blackhawks visited. Fans had to buy at least two-game packages.
In a first-round playoff series that the Blackhawks won last season en route to a championship, the Predators initially only sold tickets to the general public locally, so they had to be bought in person. When those playoff tickets eventually went online, they were available only to purchasers within the team's television viewing area.
The disdain isn't limited to just the ticket policy, either. In October 2014, the Predators played "God Bless America" before a Blackhawks game instead of the national anthem, in an effort to keep the Blackhawks fans from partaking in their tradition of cheering wildly as "The Star-Spangled Banner" plays.
"It would almost be against God, country and apple pie to shout and cheer through the person next to you singing the anthem of the United States of America, wouldn't it?" Predators president Sean Henry told The Tennessean last April.
The Predators have since reversed that course.
The Predators are averaging 16,881 fans per home game, per ESPN.com, which is 98.6 percent of capacity.
