North Dakota’s men’s hockey team has arguably the most passionate fan base of any team in the country.
But I’m not sure even their rabid fans would pay $5,719 for a single ticket to a game -- the highest price I see on the resale market for their NCAA regional session on Friday.
Wait, how much? And how did we get here?
The Fighting Hawks led the nation in attendance, with routine sellouts and an average crowd of more than 11,600 fans. North Dakota fans are also legendary for traveling to tournament destinations, whether it was the old splendor of the WCHA Final Five or NCAA sites.
So when North Dakota was sent to Maryland Heights, Mo. -- a suburb of St. Louis -- for this year’s NCAA regional, a turbo-charged case of supply and demand took hold.
The host arena for the regional is Centene Community Ice Center, a nice enough looking facility that hosts the practice rink for the NHL’s Blues.
The capacity is listed at around 2,500, though the Grand Forks Herald reports that it will be about 3,100 for the regional. It’s the smallest venue for a UND game in more than five years, the paper reported.
There simply aren’t enough seats, especially when considering Michigan and Michigan State -- two other schools in the top 10 in attendance this season -- are at the same site, along with a smaller but passionate fan base from Western Michigan.