Vancouver Canucks have most expensive ‘cheap seats’

VANCOUVER – Vancouver Canucks tickets went on sale today at 10 a.m. and fans can expect to reach deeper into their wallets to see their favourite hockey stars at Rogers Arena.

A family of four can now expect to pay at least $290 to attend a match – that is of course if they don’t mind watching the Columbus Blue Jackets on a Tuesday night, walk to the arena, and don’t eat.

With the cheapest ticket now costing $65 – a $7.50 increase from last year – the club has the most expensive low-end ticket price in the National Hockey League. The next highest priced low-end ticket can be found in Edmonton for a relative bargain of $50.75.

The $65 price tag for an upper-level seat in the "nosebleeds" only applies to 22 of the 41 home games as there are 19 "premium" games which will cost a Nucklehead $85. Premium games include games with high demand like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens as well as pre-game ceremonies like Ring of Honour nights and the Markus Naslund retirement ceremony.

The most expensive ticket at Rogers Arena costs $246 for a regular game and $300 for a premium game. All of the tickets have an additional $8.50 service charge

The tickets are nonetheless in high demand as the club has sold 17,000 season tickets and has thousands in line. Rogers Arena has a seating capacity of 18,810.

While the high-end tickets remain relatively cheap compared to New York ($1,129) Toronto ($658) and Los Angeles ($455) every other team offers substantially lower priced tickets for seats in the upper levels.

Similar upper-level corner seats that cost $65 in Vancouver only cost $40 in Chicago to watch the Blackhawks – a team that over the past two years has offered a higher value on-ice product.

In Montreal similar seats go for $64, however the Canadiens as well as clubs in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Anaheim (clubs that have reached at least the conference finals in the past five years) all offer tickets for under $30.

And while the recent on-ice performance of clubs in Ottawa, Dallas, Columbus, Florida and Atlanta may not come close to that of Vancouver ,seats can still be bought for $15 or less.

Last year, according to the Team Marketing Report, the Canucks had the third-highest average ticket cost in the league behind the Maple Leafs and Canadiens.

gwood@vancouversun.com