NHL Hurricanes Restrict Tickets to Prevent Opposing Fan Takeover During Series

The NHL Carolina Hurricanes are making a ticketing change in order to prevent an opposing fan takeover at PNC Arena. 

Carolina put a sales restriction policy in place this week for its second-round playoff tickets, CBS Sports reported. The Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins in their first-round playoff series and played the New York Ranger on Wednesday, winning 2-1.

The "restricted sales area" policy for this round of the playoff means that only people from North Carolina, South Carolina and southern parts of Virginia can purchase tickets directly from the team. If anyone outside those areas tried to purchase a ticket to Games 1, or will try to buy a ticket for Game 2 from the Hurricanes' website, they'll see a disclaimer:

Very Important!! PNC Arena is located in Raleigh, NC. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of North Carolina/South Carolina and Southern Virginia. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside North Carolina/South Carolina and Southern Virginia will be canceled without notice and refunds given.

Carolina will host Game 2 on Friday. The Hurricanes will also host Games 5 and 7, if those games are necessary, CBS Sports reported.

NHL Playoffs 2022: Hurricanes change ticket policy in attempt to keep Rangers fans out of PNC Arena https://t.co/kymWgHUcgm

— Don Lichterman (SCA) (@DonELichterman) May 17, 2022

Carolina won't be able to control secondary-market ticket sales, however, which gives people from all areas the ability to get seats to Hurricanes home games during the series.

New York — which CBS Sports reported declined to employ ticket-purchasing restrictions — has already sold out all its tickets to Games 3, 4 and 6 at Madison Square Garden.

The NFL's Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans introduced similar policies during the 2022 playoffs, according to CBS Sports. For the NFC Championship game at SoFi Stadium, the Rams ensured only residents of the Greater Los Angeles region would have access to tickets. The Titans, meanwhile, restricted fans from transferring tickets to their playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals until 24 hours before kickoff at Nissan Stadium.