The battle for the Stanley Cup is well underway as the New York Rangers take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Sunday night.
But for die-hard Blueshirts fans, planning a trip to North Carolina to watch the games may be difficult — Ticketmaster is barring people who live outside of the North Carolina area from purchasing tickets.
After completing the purchase, fans are greeted with this disclaimer before submitting their ticket payment:
“The PNC Arena is located in Raleigh, NC. Sales for this event will be limited to residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and the southern portions of Virginia,” the website reads. “The balance will be based on the credit card billing address. Orders from residents outside of North Carolina, South Carolina and southern Virginia will be canceled without notice and refunds.”
Games 3, 4 and potentially 6 are scheduled to be hosted at PNC Arena.
Of course, Rangers fans took to social media to point out that the North Carolina area has a lot of New York transplants, and limiting ticket sales probably won't be very effective.
It's ridiculous that the Hurricanes try to keep Rangers fans out of PNC when there are so many of us here
– Your majesty ?? (@the3jsmom) May 2, 2024
The funny thing is that there are so many Rangers fans in this area that it won't matter. The regular season game I went to at PNC Arena was packed with Rangers fans and I can assure you that no one from NY flew to RDU for a Tuesday night game.
— NC-HOKIE (@BGHokie) May 1, 2024
Seeing as how most of Cary is made up of NY transplants, the Rangers will be well represented, as are every game at PNC
— Melissa (@VoakesFan) May 1, 2024
They are scared! Right, so I think Rangers fans will still invade PNC.
— roy cacciola (@RoyCacciola) May 1, 2024
The last time the two teams met in the playoffs was in 2022 when the Rangers emerged victorious after Game 7 of Round 2. Same ticket denial for PNC game tickets was reported in place then, too.
Dates and times have not yet been released for the rest of the series.
The New York Rangers do not have a limit on who can buy tickets for Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, although it will cost you to enter the arena.
As of Friday afternoon, the cheapest official tickets listed through Ticketmaster were standing room only (no assigned seating) for $343 a pop.
Game 1 of the Rangers and Hurricanes in Round 2 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs will begin at 4:00 PM EST on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.