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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.
I talked about the ridiculousness with Randy Johnson on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
The result has created a scarcity market that isn't good for anyone except, perhaps ticket re-sellers. As noted, the price being asked for seats on the glass behind the goal is $5,719 per ticket.
Asking price is different than selling price, but just getting in the door is ridiculous. Standing room tickets are $250, and plenty of others are being listed at $700 or above for a single ticket.
That at least gets you into BOTH games in the regional semifinals -- Michigan State vs. Western Michigan and Michigan vs. North Dakota -- but unless I missed something in the fine print, it does not appear that Taylor Swift is performing during the second intermission.
By contrast, the Gophers are playing in a more than 10,000-seat venue in Sioux Falls, S.D. You can buy a ticket on the resale market for $56 for that opening session. The other two regional venues have capacities of roughly 6,800 and 11,200, respectively.
Fans are somewhere between outraged and amused. I'm sure the atmosphere inside the building will be terrific and intimate. It's just a shame that it will be limited in many ways.
Here are four more things to know today:
*I really enjoyed Ben Goessling's story on the process the Vikings will use in trying to find their next QB. I talked about it on Tuesday's podcast, and Goessling will be a guest on a show later this week.
*Randy Johnson and I also talked Gophers football on Tuesday's show. I'm intrigued by new Gophers QB Max Brosmer.
*"We have the best player in America," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of Paige Bueckers after her performance Monday in a second-round NCAA win. That should make things interesting as the tournament goes deeper and eyes are locked in on Caitlin Clark.
*This mock draft QB solution for the Vikings is certainly different from the others I have seen.
