Quote:
Originally Posted by AC
How can that be possible? The three sections behind the benches were still very empty. The middle section in particular was about 75% empty. This is midway into the 2nd.
Edit: Actually by the third period the sections were up to about 80% filled.
Do they let fans move down late in the game or something? |
So this is an oddity for the Panthers. They've designed that section directly behind the benches to be designated as "Club Lexus". The seats there give fans exclusive access to a large lounge area with very comfortable seating, great food, wait staff, and a full bar. What happens is a lot of fans take their time getting back to their seats after intermission, or just stay in the lounge and watch the game from there. It's kind of like a giant, super comfy suite. There are seats attached to it, but they're not always used for the whole game. These seats are also very, very expensive, and you often see much more casual fans buy these tickets more for a nice night out than to actually watch hockey intently. It's a pretty interesting marketing idea, but it does affect atmosphere to be sure.
http://panthers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=99498
So here's the thing, the camera is often pointed at that section directly behind the benches, so on TV it almost always looks half empty, even though every seat has been paid for and fans are in the building. For example, my seats are 2 rows behind that section and there wasn't a free seat to be seen anywhere near me. Trust me when I say that building was incredibly full last night. The only spots where I saw empty seats were at the very back of the rafter level seats. It always looks much, much worse on tv than it ever does in person.
See that red area? That's Club Lexus, formerly known as Club Red. That's all you ever get to see on TV. Your screenshot pretty much captured that entire red area.