Hurricanes restricting ticket sales for Games 3 and 4 to keep Rangers fans out of PNC Arena

The battle to keep New York fans out of road arenas continues.

First, it was 76ers ownership buying up tickets themselves to keep them out of the hands of Knicks fans for Game 6 of the teams’ first-round playoff series on Thursday night.

Now the Carolina Hurricanes are trying to keep Rangers fans out of PNC Arena for Games 3 and 4 of that second-round series.

Fans looking to buy seats to those games on Ticketmaster’s site on Thursday were met with this warning:

“PNC Arena is located in Raleigh, NC. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and southern parts of Virginia.

“Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside North Carolina, South Carolina and southern parts of Virginia will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”

Of course, fans in the New York tri-state area, and other states, are still able to purchase tickets to Games 3 and 4 on other ticket resellers’ platforms.

That sort of tactic has become increasingly common in pro sports, with visiting New York-area fans a frequent target given the region’s population and relative wealth. 

The Hurricanes did the same thing two years ago when they faced the Rangers in the second round. The Rangers won in seven games, securing the clincher in Raleigh.

Last season, Ticketmaster restricted ticket sales for Hurricanes games in the Eastern Conference finals against the Panthers to regional customers. The Panthers swept the series in four games.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.