Knicks fans took over Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and the Hurricanes are in danger of succumbing to the same swarm of New Yorkers when the Rangers come to Raleigh for Games 3 and 4 of the second round starting Thursday night.
The Hurricanes are not so terrified that owner Tom Dundon is purchasing tickets himself a la Sixers ownership.
But they are geographically restricting ticket sales to residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and parts of Virginia in an effort to make sure PNC Arena is clad in red.
That is not new — the Hurricanes and other teams, including the Rangers, have used similar measures — but Carolina has a unique problem on its hands.
There are so many transplanted New Yorkers in the area that geoblocking is, at best, a half-measure.
“I will go out on a limb for anybody with a New York area code or a billing address who is looking to buy away tickets in Raleigh at the PNC Arena,” Ryan Somerville, a native Long Islander who moved to Charlotte in 2019, told The Post.
According to Julia Young of Vivid Seats, 24 percent of the seats at PNC Arena are projected to be filled by Ranger fans for Game 3.
Though no one had taken him up on the offer for this series as of Wednesday, Somerville successfully procured tickets for people for past Rangers-Hurricanes games.
“I’ve actually had quite a few people reach out to me directly,” he said. “More personal family and friends, but I’ve had people from my high school call me and say, ‘Hey, any chance we can work something out?’ I say, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’
“People travel. Don’t underestimate the cost of Spirit or Frontier [budget airlines]. People will go down to Raleigh because it is so cheap and I think that was the initial draw for a lot of New Yorkers to move to the Carolinas. But the fandom follows, right?”
Especially compared to the exorbitant prices at Madison Square Garden, it is relatively affordable to go to a game at PNC Arena.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the lowest ticket price on VividSeats for Game 3 of the series was $127.
To get into Game 5 in New York, the bare minimum was $322, with most tickets listed at over $400, even in the upper bowl.
Two years ago when the Rangers and Hurricanes went seven games in the playoffs, there was a notable away fan presence in Raleigh throughout the series despite the same geoblocking measures being in place, particularly in Game 7, which the Rangers dominated 6-2.
The home team won each of the first six games in that series.
This time, the Rangers are going on the road with a 2-0 lead after Vincent Trocheck won Tuesday night’s Game 2 in double overtime.
Carolina is known as one of the loudest atmospheres in the NHL, but there is worry in the fan community about keeping the building red.
A thread on the Hurricanes’ Reddit page leading into the series with over 100 comments slammed those who were reselling tickets.
“Really appreciate them doing their best to get rid of our home crowd advantage for a couple extra bucks,” the original poster wrote.
While the tickets sold directly by Carolina are geoblocked, the same does not apply to those on the secondary market.
For those looking to buy at face value, however, there are always middlemen such as Somerville, who will be at Game 4.
“When they see Ranger fans walking through the grass [parking] lots in jerseys and hats and everything, you’re gonna get a lot of boos, but you ask for it,” Somerville said. “That’s pretty much what a rivalry is. You expect that kind of warm welcome.”
