The Stanley Cup Playoffs are upon us and the first round has come to a conclusion. In just that first round, tickets for certain games were revealed to be going for as high as $8,500 per seat.
For some fans, getting a ticket to one of these NHL playoffs games seems out of reach.
But, what if there was a secret to buying tickets at the right time to go on an affordable budget? Is it possible to buy tickets for these NHL games at a perfect time?
This is your guide to buying Stanley Cup Playoffs tickets at the right time.
Buying Tickets Early
One way that you can assure that you get affordable playoffs tickets is by buying tickets early. You can take a gamble on this and buy tickets before it is even confirmed that your team knows their opponent or knowing if your team is going to move on to the next round.
The best way that you can do this is by using a third-party website that has a 100% protection guarantee with your tickets. This basically has the website tell you that the money you put into your tickets is protected if you have any issue with your tickets or if the game that you bought it for even happened.
An example could be if you have an opponent possibly coming from a big market in the next round. In 2022, one such case was that after the Edmonton Oilers clinched their spot in the second round, they had the possibility of facing provincial rival Calgary Flames.
The alternative opponent would have been the Dallas Stars. While Dallas is a big market in the US, Calgary is a lot closer to Edmonton and makes it increasingly likely that both fan bases are going to want to get tickets for this rivalry series.
Buying early also likely gives you better deals on tickets later in the series such as a Game 6 or Game 7. Waiting until the last minute for these types of games likely drives up demand once it is confirmed that these teams are going to go that far in a series.
Know when it is appropriate to buy tickets early such as when you are unsure of who your team’s opponent may be or trying to get tickets to a late game in a series.
Waiting Until the Last Minute
In complete contrast to the above, sometimes it is not a bad idea to wait until the last minute to buy tickets for a playoff game. The reason for this is once it gets down to the last few hours before puck drop, it becomes increasingly unlikely in the seller’s eyes that they are going to be able to sell their tickets.
As a buyer, you are hoping that a seller panics in this situation and is willing to lower their ticket price significantly compared to what they had the price at previously. The idea here is that the seller will settle for less money than they wanted rather than not receiving any money at all.
The best time to do this is as close to puck drop as possible. However, some third party websites will have deadlines for how close to puck drop someone can buy tickets.
Sometimes, buyers will look for someone who is selling tickets right in front of the arena. The risk here is that buying tickets from a scalper increases the risk of having fake tickets. If that happens, you are out of the money that you spent on those tickets and have no recourse to get your money back.
This tactic takes a willingness to either miss the game completely or at least show up late for the game. It is a way that can potentially save you a lot of money but it is far from guaranteed to be the most effective way.
Weekday Games and Early Series Games
If you are looking to buy the right ticket at the right time, you need to look for the playoff games that are going to cause the least demand. The most common ways to reduce demand would be a weeknight game rather than the weekend and a game earlier in the series such as Game 2 rather than Game 7.
Game 7 is the sudden death game in the series and is hosted by the same team that hosts Game 2. So, if you are looking to go to a game in the series, you are likely going to save a lot of money going to Game 2 because there are potentially five more games left in the series after it rather than none.
Then, when it comes to weekday games, they are likely going to have less demand than weekend games because of the work schedule of fans going. Most fans tend to work Mondays through Fridays and most of these playoff games start at 7 P.M. EST at the earliest.
That might deter some fans from going on a weeknight because they will likely have to travel a decent distance to get back home that night plus have to get ready to go to work early the next morning.
If you are looking for a more affordable ticket, consider one of these two options.
Buy Your Stanley Cup Playoffs Tickets
Some Stanley Cup Playoffs tickets can break the bank. However, if you follow these tips by buying very early, very late, or for certain days and games, you can find an affordable ticket.
Are you ready to get in on the action? Buy your NHL playoffs tickets today.
