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Sold-out Canucks tickets bid high on internet

Last Updated: Friday, October 5, 2007 | 7:24 PM PT

CBC News

Tickets for every Vancouver Canucks home game this season are sold out, but the demand to see NHL hockey at General Motors Place is still high, creating an online market for avid bidders.

Club seats for a Canucks game in Vancouver this season are going for about $600 US a pair on internet site Craigslist.
(CBC)

"It's expensive to watch a game in the lower bowl, but they're selling out and there is demand," said Scott Frinskie, a Vancouverite.

That demand has driven up the official price of game-day tickets by 12 per cent this year, said Chris Zimmerman, chief executive officer of the Canucks.

"If you look at our ticket prices against all other Canadian-based teams, we're actually down in the lower third of ticket prices," he told CBC News on Friday.

The only way to buy tickets now is second-hand, through scalpers or internet sites like Craigslist, where club seats are going for about $600 US a pair.

By comparison, two prime tickets to see the Canucks take on the Coyotes in Phoenix in March can be had for $225 US on the Phoenix Craigslist site.

Scott Frinskie says he'd rather spend a bit more money and take a trip to Phoenix to watch a Canucks game than buy expensive home-game tickets in Vancouver.
(CBC)

Add in two return airfares from Bellingham, Wash. — about 80 kilometres south of Vancouver — to Phoenix at $428 US, plus a three-star hotel for a night at about $100 US, and the grand total, including the tickets, comes to $753 US.

So, for about $150 US more, fans can enjoy their hockey with a little holiday and some better weather. Some Vancouverites are all for it.

"You could go to Phoenix for 700 or so, or buy two Canucks tickets" for $600, Frinskie said. "I'd go to Phoenix."

"Absolutely, I'd go," said another Canucks fan, Parker Macleod. "If I had the time, I'd go anywhere."

This story is now closed to commenting.

Internal Links

VIDEO: Canucks CEO Chris Zimmerman talks up tickets at Skytrain station (Runs 1:19)

External Links

Team Marketing Report: National Hockey League 2006-2007 Fan Cost Index Survey

(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)

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