Tickets to the Edmonton Oilers’ playoff watch parties inside Rogers Place for road games will cost hockey fans more for the Stanley Cup Final.
In a news release Tuesday morning, the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) said tickets for the watch parties for Games 1 and 2 went on sale at noon and cost $20 each. That’s four times the $5 ticket cost for the first three rounds of the NHL playoffs.
A statement from OEG president and chief revenue officer Stew MacDonald said the $20 ticket provides “great value and is in line with other family offerings like the Oilers Skills Competition and Oil Kings games.”
The organization said net ticket proceeds go to the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation.
“The Rogers Road Game Watch Party for Game 1 on Saturday is already sold out and we look forward to Rogers Place again being filled with families and young fans cheering on their Oilers while the team is in Florida,” MacDonald said.
Playoff watch parties both inside and outside of the arena have become wildly popular for Oilers fans over the past few years.
During both home and away games, outdoor watch parties have been held in the Ice District Plaza and in the nearby Fan Park. Stu Ballantyne, president and COO of Rogers Place and Ice District, estimates about 25,000 people take part in the parties both inside and outside the arena each game. So far in the playoffs, Ballantyne said about 325,000 people have joined in the Oilers fun.
“It’s just been absolutely awesome. We’ve got dance competitions going on in the plaza, people are cheering and singing the anthem at the start of the games. It really has been incredible.”
The massive tent that was set up in the Fan Park earlier in the playoffs has come down to make way for a fair this weekend. While the tent won’t go back up for the playoffs, Ballantyne said the Fan Park will be reopened for hockey fans for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“You never plan that you’re going to go all the way to the Stanley Cup Final so you have to have other events,” Ballantyne explained.
“Ice District is for everybody, so this is a family event coming in this week and unfortunately, it’s on top of our Game 1 but we’ve got lots of opportunity. The arena is going to be open for a watch party, the plaza’s open for a watch party, we’ve got Molson Hockey House here in Ford Hall (that) will also be open and there’s lot of establishments around Edmonton that could certainly use everybody’s business.”
Plus, Ballantyne alluded that there was more fun on the way.
“There’s going to be some stuff announced, for sure. We’ve got lots of stuff in the pot working out right now.”
Oilers watch party at River Cree Resort and Casino
Rogers Place isn’t the only venue offering Oilers watch parties. Hockey fans can also attend parties at River Cree Resort and Casino, on the western outskirts of Edmonton.
The casino has a massive 22,000-square-foot tent set up that has room for hundreds of fans. Tickets cost $25 and include an all-you-can-eat buffet. Drinks are an additional cost.
“It is so fun. We have a nice, seated atmosphere,” said Jayne Behm, director of marketing at River Cree. “Everybody gets their own table, their own seat, we have a great all-you-can-eat buffet, lots of room, lots of space, but so high energy and so much fun.”
The venue set up the tent after the first round of the NHL playoffs, in response the huge demand from hockey fans wanting to gather to watch games together.
“We knew they were coming and we needed to build it,” Behm said of Oilers fans.
“It’s been absolutely crazy. Some of the big superfans have been down with us – Superfan Magoo, Mama Stanley – it’s been so fun out here.”
The casino has space inside a couple of ballrooms to hold fans for watch parties, as well.
“At Enoch Cree Nation we think it’s so important to service the communities around us as well here out west of Edmonton: Stony Plain, Spruce Grove,” Behm said.
“The atmosphere is so fun, and seeing that sense of community – everybody comes together, we all have the one common denominator, we’re all on the same team during playoffs — and just feeling that sense and energy on property is so fun and something (that’s) so exciting.”
Tickets for the River Cree Oilers watch parties can be purchased on the casino’s website or by visiting its box office. Behm encourages people to buy tickets as soon as they’re available, as every Oilers event the casino has held has sold out.
The Oilers will be back in playoff action in Florida on Saturday, where they will face the Panthers in Game 1 of the series. Puck drops just after 6 p.m. MT.
Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary) will all be played in Edmonton. Tickets for all three possible home games go on sale at noon Wednesday.
All of the games in the Stanley Cup Final start at 6 p.m. MT. The dates of the games are as follows:
- Game 1: Saturday, June 8 in Sunrise, Fla.
- Game 2: Monday, June 10 in Sunrise, Fla.
- Game 3: Thursday, June 13 in Edmonton
- Game 4: Saturday, June 15 in Edmonton
- Game 5: Tuesday, June 18 in Sunrise, Fla. (if necessary)
- Game 6: Friday, June 21 in Edmonton (if necessary)
- Game 7: Monday, June 24 in Sunrise, Fla. (if necessary)
This is the first time the Oilers have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final since 2006, when the team ultimately lost to the Caroline Hurricanes.