Fort Lauderdale – No place like home.
During the recent 2024-25 attendance check-in from Athletic, Herman Dayal and Haley Salvian reported that the Florida Panthers had an increase in fan attendance (+569 fans) by 3% later in the season.
Here’s what they had to say about the Panthers’ growth:
The Stanley Cup champion has once again become a contender. This is clear that the Panthers will become a riser year-over-year. Matthew Tokachuk appeared as one of the league’s most marketable players, appearing in “Tonight’s Show with Jimmy Fallon” after four countries faced off. He is not the only reason the rise was present, but it certainly won’t hurt.
Florida attendees have also improved over the past few months after GM Bill Zito’s other flashy trade deadline (added by Brad Merchand) and fans prepared for another deep playoff run.
This season, the Panthers have averaged 19,181 fans per game on Amerant Bank Arena.
According to Athletic, they average the third most fans per game in the NHL
“They were unrealistic all year round,” Nico Miccola said of supporting fans in Florida.
Filled at an average capacity of 99.6%, the Panthers rank 13th in average capacity.
Overall, only the Montreal Canadiens (21,105) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (18,811) rank highly in terms of average fans per game.
Hockey and high temperatures, that’s all about South Florida these days.
“It was amazing,” Evan Rodriguez said of the energy at the Amerant Bank Arena this season. “Our links are shaking throughout the regular season and the playoffs.”
That “rocking” also brought victory.
At home this season, the Panthers owned a 23-10-2 record, surpassing their opponents 110-85 and overtaking opposing teams 1198-937.
He went ahead with the fans early and kept the arena pulse high, with Florida 18-2-0 at home with his first score of 12-1-0, leading after the first period and 17-0-0 when he controls after the second.
“I don’t think there were any empty seats at the beginning of the Pittsburgh game the other day,” Rodriguez said. “I think you’ll keep watching that.”
Just as a team is preparing for the playoffs, fans will have to drop it all at once.
Just as players push the game to play on ice, fans can create an atmosphere that adds another element to the game.
Players will not notice on either bench.
“I think they can build the volume like we’re trying to build the game,” Miccola said.
Hoping for 11 games to take part in a tight division race and another deeper run to lift Stanley Lord again, the energy in the Amerant Bank Arena must be large enough to blow the roof off.
“When you go from the Stanley Cup Final Amos Fair to the regular season, you get excited and worried because that playoffs feel again,” Rodriguez said. “I think the whole locker room is looking forward to that.”
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