Tickets hard to come by for NCAA hockey regionals at small arena

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Fans of Western Michigan University, Michigan State University and University of Michigan’s men’s hockey teams are having a hard time finding tickets to this weekend’s NCAA regional in suburban St. Louis.

The four team regional will take place at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri, about 20 miles outside of St. Louis. The community ice rink, built in 2019, is home to the St. Louis Blues practice facility and home ice of Lindenwood University.

The arena has 2,500 permanent seats, far below the standard requirement of 5,000 in the NCAA Site Selection Process packet.

According to the NCAA, the arena will include standing room-only tickets that will increase capacity to 3,148 seats for the weekend tournament. Each school in the regional is allotted 400 tickets for season tickets holders and VIPs.

According to data from the NCAA, average attendance at regionals has ranged from 7,000 to 13,000 since 2018.

In a statement, the NCAA said there weren’t a lot of sites in the western part of the country that bid for the regionals:

The NCAA also says the selection of the smaller arena was an opportunity to have a regional in the same market as next year’s Frozen Four. The Blues will host the 2025 championship at the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis.

Fans from all three Michigan teams are struggling to find tickets, which sold out just minutes after going on sale. Ticket resale sites are showing prices ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars for Friday’s game between WMU and MSU.

Justin Baker, who goes by Brigadier Bronco online, says he’s been trying to get tickets since the brackets were announced Sunday night.

“It feels like I’m trying to get tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour,” Baker told News 8 in a Monday evening interview. “It’s crazy. I’ve never experienced this with any sporting event.”

He says he’s gone to ticket resale sites hoping to find a reasonably priced seat.

“Things were very expensive,” he said. “Around $199 plus, so like $300 with fees. And at this point, you can’t even get single tickets. You can only buy two tickets.”

Baker said not being able to get tickets is frustrating because this year’s regional is so close to Kalamazoo compared to the last two years, when Western Michigan went to the East Coast.

“It so close yet so far out of reach. I feel like there’s a hundred different places we could have gone that would have had more seating,” he said.

When it comes down to it, Baker thinks fans are a big part of the college hockey experience.

“It’s just really important for these games to have their fans at it,” he said. “This could be the last game of the season, lots of seniors are going to be graduating. And it makes a difference if your fans are able to go and cheer for your team because the other teams are going to have their fans there, so I feel like it’s pretty important and I’m hoping I can get out there so I can be loud.”

Western Michigan University is no stranger to the Centene Community Ice Center. The Broncos played two games there in January against Lindenwood University. Bronco Head Coach Pat Ferschweiler says the team played well in those games and is looking forward to heading back to Maryland Heights.

“We had some success in that building. That’s always a good feeling when you walk back in and it’s not all new,” Ferschweiler said at a Monday morning news conference. “I know we played good down there. I think we’re comfortable in that rink for sure.”

The Broncos will face off against the Big Ten Champion Michigan State Spartans at 5 p.m. Friday, with the game airing on ESPNU. The winner will advance to the regional finals on Sunday and will face the winner of the matchup between the University of North Dakota and the University of Michigan.

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