Fans wonder about Trump effect as cheap seats available for Leafs playoff games in Florida
At around five hours before puck drop, ticket reseller Stubhub had seats going for around $100 on the low end, with plenty of options still available in the $200 to $300 range. That's significantly more affordable than resale seats for a possible game five in Toronto, where the cheapest tickets available at the same time Friday were just under $500, with others topping $1,000.
While it's unsurprising ticket prices would be higher in Toronto — as an original six team with a rabid fanbase compared to a southern state that isn't a traditional hockey hotbed — some fans heading to the game in Sunrise told CBC News they believe tickets are cheaper than expected as some Canadians are staying away from the U.S. because of the trade war launched by President Donald Trump.
"There's a drastic drop in the Canadians coming down here attending games, coming to the resorts, coming to the hotels, coming to the beaches," said Daniel St. Denis, a Canadian who now lives in the United States. He was able to snag resale tickets for Friday's clash for under $100.
St. Denis, who is originally from the Peterborough, Ont. area but now lives in Philadelphia and works in Florida, said there were a lot more Canadians in the area in the last couple of years. He'll be in the stands Friday cheering for the Panthers, as a Senators fan who was forced to watch his favourite team get eliminated by the Leafs in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
"Just being here, you can tell where the Canadians are when you go to the restaurants, you go to the hotels, you go to the beach — and there are fewer than what you'd expect," he said.Mark Fera of Toronto says he wouldn't have made the trip to Florida if the Leafs weren't in the playoffs. He says he flew to Florida in 2023 for another postseason series between the Leafs and Panthers, but was worried this time around the exchange rate and ongoing trade war might make it too expensive.
"To my surprise, a lot of the stuff is cheaper," he said. And it's not just tickets.
Fera said his flights cost less than half what they did in 2023, and his car rental and beachfront hotel were far cheaper than what he's used to. He wondered if a lack of Canadian visitors had anything to do with it.
"Things are not at the same costs. I think people just haven't been interested in coming down for many reasons," he said. "I definitely find it to be a lot more reasonable in a lot of aspects this time."
The U.S. gets more visitors from Canada each year than from any other country, according to the U.S. Travel Association, an industry trade group, which said 20.4 million visits from Canada last year generated $20.5 billion in spending.
But there has been a big drop in foreigners traveling to the U.S. since Trump took office, and Canadians are no exception.
There were more than 910,000 fewer land border crossings from Canada into the U.S. in March compared to the same month in 2024 — a more than 22 per cent drop — according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
An Air Canada spokesperson, meanwhile, said Canada-U.S. flight bookings for April through September are down about 10 per cent.
Since Trump started his second term, there have been well-publicized reports of tourists being stopped at U.S. border crossings and held for weeks at immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense.
St. Denis said his own family hasn't been crossing the border as much, and he knows people who have been thinking about cancelling trips they already had booked to the U.S.
That's why he's not expecting to see a sea of blue jerseys in the stands at Amerant Bank Arena Friday night.
"I think it's going to be true home ice for the Panthers tonight, and I think it's going to be loud," he said.
And though St. Denis is a Senators fan who admittedly enjoys watching the Leafs lose, he's still lauding how the team looks so far in the playoffs, now up two games to none against the defending champs.
"If they get past the Panthers, it's their cup to lose," he said. "I really think that they do have a good team."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US suspends visa processing in Zimbabwe, embassy says
HARARE (Reuters) -The United States has stopped processing most visas in Zimbabwe until further notice, its embassy in the capital Harare said on Wednesday, citing unspecified concerns with the government. "We have paused routine visa services in Harare while we address concerns with the Government of Zimbabwe," the embassy said in a post on X. It said the move was not a travel ban and that current visas would remain valid. The government of the Southern African country did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The pause took effect on August 7, according to a notice on the U.S. State Department's website, which said it applied to all visa services with the exception of most diplomatic and official visas. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has restricted travel from a number of African countries, saying it is working to prevent visa overstaying and misuse. Zimbabwe had a visa overstay rate of 10.57% in 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report. Starting this week, the U.S. will require visa applicants from Zambia and Malawi to pay bonds of up to $15,000 for some visitor visas. The Trump administration has also paused visa processing in Niger. Harare resident Angella Chirombo said her 18-year-old son had received a scholarship to do his bachelor's degree at Michigan State University and had been waiting for a visa interview when the pause hit. "He was supposed to be in school already. I paid for everything else and was waiting for the visa so I could buy tickets," she told Reuters. She said other parents were considering booking interviews at other U.S. embassies in Southern Africa, but that she wouldn't be able to afford the travel. "Now they are saying we can go to Zambia and Namibia. I don't even have money right now and I don't know where to get this money. They are so many students that have been affected." Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Rock Band Cardinal Black Recommends Welsh Travel Sites
Welsh rock band Cardinal Black poses triumphantly after their first concert in New York City at a sold-out Gramercy Theatre. Cedric Perrier Most American travelers are unfamiliar with the riches of South Wales Valleys in Wales. They are very familiar, though, to the members of Cardinal Black, a Welsh rock band that performed a stellar debut concert in New York this month before a sold-out audience at the Gramercy Theatre and then embarked on a U.S. and Canadian tour that ends Aug. 30. 'It's a picturesque part of the world with a strong national identity and an abundance of character, history and heart,' says Chris Buck, Cardinal Black's super-talented guitarist who, like all the band members, hails from the region. 'There'll be a welcome (for Americans) in the hillsides.' There are several can't-miss sites in South Wales Valleys, Buck says. The region, located north of the English border and Welsh cities Cardiff and Swansea, extends about 60 miles from Carmarthenshire in the west to Monmouthshire in the east. 'Even though I've been there innumerable times,' Buck says, Big Pit, our national coal museum in Blaenavon, always has a profound impact to see the dangerous, claustrophobic conditions that my grandfather and great grandfather worked in for most of their lives. There's also the Roman fortress in Caerleon, one of the best-preserved examples of a Roman amphitheater in the United Kingdom.' The South Wales Valleys, according to the Welsh tourism website offer 'big green spaces that are perfect for walking and mountain biking.' The website suggests a visit to Aberdare, a town dubbed 'Queen of the Hills' that sits 'at the base of a wide and grand valley.' The town has quaint cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars and is 'the cradle of the British film industry,' where filmmaker William Haggard produced more than 30 films. Members of the Welsh rock band Cardinal Black take in the sights at Newgale Beach in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Lewys Mann About 23 miles south of Aberdare and just south of South Wales Valleys, Buck recommends a visit to St. Fagan's National Museum of History in Cardiff, Wales' capital and largest city. The museum is located four miles west of the city center. 'It has dozens of meticulously relocated historic Welsh buildings,' he says, 'including a cenotaph commemorating, amongst others, my great uncle who was shot down and killed over Berlin (in World War II) in 1945.' Cardiff Castle is 'a notable part of Cardiff's history and skyline, reportedly first commissioned by William the Conqueror and with remains from the Norman and Victorian eras,' Buck says. 'It's also a pretty epic place for a first gig, as we found out in late 2021! Maybe we should go back!' Caerphilly Castle, about a 20-minute drive north of Cardiff Castle, is the biggest Welsh castle and worth a visit, Buck says. It also was a good place for a high school prom, he adds. Buck and his wife had their wedding reception at The Skirrid Inn in the Brecon Beacons mountain range adjacent to South Wales Valleys. 'At nearly a thousand years old, it is Wales' oldest pub and one of my favorite places in the world,' he says. 'It has a slightly macabre history, having been frequented by the infamous Hanging Judge Jeffreys, who presided over the execution of seemingly every petty criminal in Wales in the 17th Century. The subsequent rope burns are still visible on the wooden beam in the pub's stairwell, and, perhaps not surprisingly, it's reported that the pub is prodigiously haunted. Granted, it's not your typical tourist destination, but it's fairly indicative of Wales' varied and sometimes dark history.' Brecon Beacons National Park includes four mountain ranges, according to and is 'full of grassy moorlands, heather-clad escarpments and old red sandstone peaks, softened by weather and time.' The park has more than 2,000 miles of footpaths and is a favorite of mountain bikers. Outside his home region, Buck has other recommendations for travelers to Wales. 'West Wales, particularly Pembrokeshire, has always been a firm favorite for family holidays, not just my own, but pretty much every family east of Swansea!' he exclaims. 'Joking aside, it's an extremely beautiful part of the world and home to St. David's, the U.K's smallest, quaintest city.' Members of Cardinal Black (left to right), vocalist Tom Hollister, guitarist Chris Buck and drummer Adam Roberts, stand behind the Welsh flag in West Wales. Lewys Mann Since starting his own family, Buck has a newfound appreciation of Tenby, a town known for its harbor and beaches about a tw0-hour drive west of Cardiff. 'Although fairly touristy, it's a quirky, incredibly pretty little seaside town,' he says. 'Further north (more than a three-hour drive from Tenby), Snowdonia National Park is stunningly beautiful and home to Wales' highest peak. The Wye Valley on the Wales-England border is also incredibly scenic and home to Tintern Abbey. For all its beauty, Tintern Abbey will always make me think of overhearing someone in an adjacent pub inform children that the Luftwaffe was responsible for its state of disrepair, despite Henry VIII having beaten them to it by some 400 years.' Laugharne, about a 90-minute drive northwest of Cardiff, was the home of poet Dylan Thomas, and visitors can see the Boathouse where he worked. 'I'm convinced that, at some point on the drive into Laugharne, you pass through a portal that takes you back into 1950,' Buck says. 'You're transported to a simpler, bygone era replete with charming cafes, bookshops, pubs and Dylan's Boathouse and writing shed. Browns Hotel may not be the dingy, smoke-filled boozer of Dylan's era, but Laugharne still has a character and charm uniquely its own.' Browns Hotel was Thomas's favorite local pub. When he lived in New York, he loved the White Horse Tavern, which apparently reminded him of the Laugharne pub. Cardinal Black's visit to New York was brief—the band headed to Toronto a day after its sold-out New York concert—but Buck noticed some similarities between the Big Apple and Cardiff. 'Obviously, they're world's apart in terms of scale,' he explains. 'New York's a global metropolis; Cardiff's a small capital city of a country with half the population of New York City. I only had a few days in New York City, but I got a feel for a similar sense of local pride in its identity. 'I spoke to no end of New Yorkers excited to tell me about their city and offer advice on where to visit,' Buck continues. 'You'll encounter a similar enthusiasm for their city from someone from Cardiff, especially around (soccer) match days or gigs in the stadium. Oasis recently opened their comeback tour at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, and the atmosphere in Cardiff around that show was electric. There was definitely a vibrancy and energy around Cardiff that I sensed, however fleetingly, in New York.' Cardinal Black concludes its North American tour Aug. 30 in Camino, California, and, heading back to the United Kingdom, Buck will have fond memories of New York City. 'I fell head over heels in love with it,' he says. 'Admittedly, a truly memorable sold-out show at the Gramercy Theatre probably predisposed me to like the place a little more, but there's something so impactful about rounding a corner and being confronted with buildings and places that you've only ever seen in films. It's truly iconic and awe-inspiring. I'm looking forward to going back when we have a little more time to actually soak in the city and not run around collecting backline (equipment needed for a live show). First dates of a tour are always a little hectic, and it's a shame those dates fell while in a city that I'm so desperate to see.'
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Panthers release third unofficial depth chart ahead of Thursday's preseason finale
With their preseason finale coming up on Thursday, the Carolina Panthers have penciled in one last depth chart for the summer. And just like their last release, this one is pretty much chalk. Here's the pecking order for the week: Quarterback Running back Wide receiver Tight end Left tackle Left guard Center Right guard Right tackle Defensive end Defensive tackle Outside linebacker Inside linebacker Cornerback Safety Kick returner Punt returner Kicker Punter Long snapper The lone change from their second chart is the addition of quarterback and 2025 UFL MVP Bryce Perkins, who is expected to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers with starter Bryce Young and backup Andy Dalton lined up for some rest. To make room for Perkins, the Panthers placed tight end Tyler Mabry on injured reserve. Thursday night will give Carolina a chance to evaluate their group ahead of the big summer cutdown. Teams will have until 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 29 to trim their rosters down to 53 players. Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
