The best Stanley Cup tickets in Raleigh this year cost just $10; the most expensive cost well over $1,000. But here’s the catch: The home team wasn’t in the building for the $10 crowd. In fact, neither team was.

For all three road games of this year’s Stanley Cup Final, the Carolina Hurricanes opened Lenovo Center and put the away game on the video board. Admission was $10, proceeds went to the team’s charity foundation and parking was free. At least two of the three games sold out. Imagine, thousands of in-venue fans while the home team played more than 2,000 miles away.

This past June, I wrote in Sports Business Journal that 86% of U.S. sports fans agree that live sports are becoming a luxury experience rather than something for everyday consumers. That data point clearly struck a chord, as soon thereafter, this same YouGov data was referenced in Congress by the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees federal tax policy. And if my column were an industry diagnosis, the Hurricanes spent two weeks demonstrating at least one potential treatment.

In a YouGov Sport poll of 1,007 U.S. sports fans conducted July 23-27, we asked a simple question: Would you attend a watch party inside an arena for a team you follow, with the away game on the big screen? More than half........

© Sports Business Journal