Canes fans take warning on higher ticket prices for Stanley Cup Final

Do you want to pay your mortgage, or do you want two tickets to the Stanley Cup Final?

Right now, the average mortgage payment is $2,320, according to Rocket Mortgage.

The cost to get into the Lenovo Center tomorrow night to see the Canes? Between $1,000 and $3,000.

In the 20 years since the team's first Stanley Cup Final appearance, there have been some changes in the ticket marketplace.

A copy of a ticket stub from 2006, the last time the Canes were in the Stanley Cup Final, shows that a section 304 ticket was $80.

If you want to get a ticket in that same section 20 years later, it’ll cost you $1,153. On Monday, we asked Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky, some players and maybe most importantly - the fans - about how they feel about that.

A look at Kara Stucky’s background and it's clear  - she’s a huge Canes fan.

"We moved here about a decade ago and we’ve been going to the games pretty much ever since we got here," Stucky said.

The cost for her and her husband, Ryan, to attend Tuesday's Game 1? 

"Probably over $2,000," she said.

Lucky fans and some season-ticket holders got final tickets at face value or a discount. They told WRAL that their tickets were between $170 and $500, but they’re reselling at much, much more.

One Canes fan posted on Reddit that “Stanley Cup tickets got us out here counting our change.”

Another took on a more frustrated tone writing, ”if you are a same day reseller, you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself.”

WRAL investigative sports reporter Brian Murphy said it’s all relative to the circumstances and prices could be higher, as is the case in Las Vegas.

"These aren’t even the most expensive tickets of this Stanley Cup Final. In Vegas, the get-in price is about $2,000," Murphy said. "You’re talking about a 18,000 - 19,000 seat venue. Right across the street is Carter-Finely that has about 60,000 seats so supply and demand dictates that there’s not a ton of supply for these tickets, they’re playing in pretty small arenas."

"That’s probably a vacation - for many people that's a mortgage payment or two mortgage payments or a month's worth of rent," Murphy said.

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said the high prices are becoming more common across the entertainment world for live events.

"There's a lot of demand right now and it's part of how the business works," Tulsky said. "When people all want to come to games, the games get more expensive. When nobody was in the building, you could get in for $5 or $10, that's not how it is now. I think we still have very competitive prices compared to most teams. We have an affordable market, comparatively. But when you get to the final, there are a lot of people who want to come to games and that's just how the market works." 

For the players, they don’t care where you watch, as long as you root for them.

“Go outside, try to find some TV and cheer for us,” said Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov.

You can check out a list of bars and restaurants to watch the Canes throughout the Triangle, including the "Canes bars" network here.

Even just driving yourself to the game is getting more expensive. Showing up to park on site for the Stanley Cup Final as a non-season ticket Member at Lenovo Center without having prepaid costs $95.

That's an increase from $75 from the Eastern Conference Final.

Pre-paying for Arena parking will knock $30 off the total, costing you $65 to park at the arena’s closest lots. The one official surface lot, across the street, at the four points by Sheraton is a little cheaper at $60. 

Some fans remember paying just a fraction of that in 2006.

"Just kind of consistently going up in the last 10 years or so," said Lori Parro. "I think it was around $20, somewhere around there."