Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators, has had the reputation for a long time of being one of the best atmospheres in NHL hockey. Everything from the pregame experience, the rabid fans, the in-game activities, the restaurants, the entertainment, everything is a full-on experience that makes even the division rival fans love coming to Nashville.
A study by the Action Network has ranked all 32 of the NHL arenas based on most expensive and least expensive for a family of four. They used metrics such as parking prices, ticket prices, concession items and even child admission policies to come up with the average total cost.
To probably no one's surprise that regularly attends Predators home games, Bridgestone Arena ranks high on this list of most expensive, coming in at 4th-highest behind only Scotiabank Arena (Maple Leafs), T-Mobile Arena (Golden Knights), and Madison Square Garden (New York Rangers).
Smashville is one of the best experiences in hockey, and also one of the most expensive
Just looking at those insane market sizes (Toronto, Las Vegas, New York City), it is pretty incredible that Nashville comes in just behind them at average total cost. What really shoots Bridgestone Arena high on this list is their average ticket prices for four people.
The study found that the average total cost for four general tickets at Bridgestone Arena to be $523.52, just barely behind Madison Square Garden. Maple Leafs home games are way ahead of everyone in this particular metric, soaring at an average of $637.32 for four tickets.
Going to a Predators home game ranks a little more affordable in the metrics of concessions and parking.
Bridgestone Arena has gained the worldwide reputation of not just being a destination place for hockey games, but also for concerts and other entertainment events. Hosting the 2023 NHL Entry Draft was a huge success as well. So again, it shouldn't be a huge shock to see Bridgestone Arena so high, and even ranked higher than blue blood hockey markets like Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Montreal.
This is a major factor into why Predators fans are so hard on the front office to finally start succeeding where it counts most, and that's in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. To justify paying some of the highest prices in the entire NHL to go to home games means you better deliver with your product on the ice.
Judging by what GM Barry Trotz has done this offseason with signing such massive free agents as Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, he sees this loud and clear. He has dramatically boosted the Stanley Cup odds for 2025.
On the flip side to the most affordable hockey arenas from 2023-24, the now defunct Arizona Coyotes ranked as the most affordable live gameday experience at Mullett Arena. Their average total cost comes in at $285.36, which is a bargain regardless of what team you're seeing on the ice. And it's not like the Coyotes were just an absolute abomination by any means, but now they're in Utah.
Here's the big kicker of this whole list; the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were the 2nd-most affordable team in NHL hockey. They have the lowest average ticket price for four fans with a cost of $194.56.
Geez, talk about making your fans happy. You're saving money in their bank accounts while also delivering a Stanley Cup.
Rounding out the more affordable teams is more of what you would expect, which are teams that are a long ways away from a Stanley Cup and in rebuild mode, like the Blue Jackets, Sharks, Ducks and Senators.
To compare the Predators to their fellow NFL team residing in Nashville, the Tennessee Titans, it's a much different picture. The Titans, playing at Nissan Stadium, offer the 8th-cheapest for a family of four using the same metrics. Their average total cost is $429.48, considerably cheaper than to go to Bridgestone Arena. That is absolutely shocking to me considering the NFL is king in all of American sports and we're in the middle of football country in the South.
However, to be fair the Titans are buried in a long rebuild while the Predators are a playoff caliber team, so there's that.
It will be very intriguing to see how the additions of Stamkos and the other free agents affects ticket prices and the average total cost. My assumption is Bridgestone Arena will once again be one of the more expensive arenas in the NHL, but if they can deliver Stanley Cup caliber hockey to the Smashville, then all will be forgiven on the high price tag.
Here is where you can see the full study conducted by Action Network.