For any South Florida team not named the Miami Heat, selling season tickets in this economy is a challenge. Heck, if you're the Florida Panthers, perrennial NHL disappoinments, it's a challenge just being noticed.
You can hear the cry from Sunrise: "Hey, don't forget about us! Hockey is an awesome sport when you see it in peson! Please, come take a look!"
So the Panthers are taking a page out of the Priceline.com playbook and offering a first-of-its-kind deal: choose your seats, make an offer, and see what happens.
"You've got to think outside the box down here, especially during the summer time," said Ryan McCoy, who's part of the team's marketing office. "We had some big moves by other in-market sports teams, so we wanted to make sure we were noticed."
Hockey fan Chris Merlino just moved to South Florida. He took a look at the Panthers' website and wasn't sure if the offer was real.
"I kind of thought it was a joke at first, name your own price," Merlino said. But he put in a bid Saturday, and on Sunday, he got his answer.
"I made out very well, $90 club box seats for $40 dollars per ticket," Merlino told us.
"It gives the fan an opportunity to start a baseline negotiation, and it's been a really good opportunity for us to reach new people," McCoy said.
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Here's how it works: You submit a bid, and the team will either accept it, come back to you with different seats for your price, or reject your offer.
The program just started on Friday, and already, McCoy said, they've sold more than 50 season ticket packages.
Too bad the Panthers can't guarantee they'll finally make the playoffs. That would make the deal way sweeter.
