It’s taken two whole rounds of the Playoffs to rear its ugly head, but the overwhelming ridiculousness behind the Tampa Bay Lightning jersey restrictions.
The Tampa Bay Lightning organization has had to deal with more than its fair share of drama over the years. Unfortunately, much of this drama stems from misinformation and misrepresentation. Unfortunately, there is one storyline that seems to become a trending topic each and every year; especially in the playoffs…the infamous Tampa Bay Lightning “jersey restriction.”
Unfortunately, this is nothing new to Tampa Bay Lightning fans. The aforementioned “ban” has been in place for years. Nothing has changed, and its rule is still clearly posted and made readily available to anyone who wishes to obtain said information.
Being completely honest, we’re shocked it’s taken two rounds for this ridiculous topic to come up once again. The funniest part of this entire conflict is that what are sometimes considered to be legitimate media outlets in the sports world are the ones perpetrating the lies that are riling everyone, especially Pittsburgh Penguins fans, into a frenzy.
The offending tweet has since been deleted by the NHL on NBC twitter site, but as the old saying goes, once you’ve posted something to the internet, it’s never really gone. So…let us begin by showing you the offending tweet from NHL on NBC.
(Screen Capture Courtesy of Achariya of Pension Plan Puppets on SB Nation)
If you don’t bother to read into this a little further, you may think the Tampa Bay Lightning and their home, the Amalie Arena, have a strict ban on all things black and yellow. The fact of the matter is this couldn’t be further from the truth. Here is an excerpt from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s actual policy as listed on the Lightning’s website.
"“In support of our hometown Tampa Bay Lightning and in furtherance of our goal to turn Amalie Arena blue for the playoffs, please note that Tampa Bay Arena, L.P. d/b/a Amalie Arena (TBA) has adopted the following Playoff Dress Code Policy (the “Playoff Policy”), which shall be in effect in the Chase Bank Club (inclusive of all 4th Floor club common areas and the corresponding seating sections), the Lexus Lounge (inclusive of all Lounge common areas and all ‘Row A’ and ‘Row B’ seats), and the Vology Loge area (together, the “Club”) throughout the 2015-2016 Lightning playoffs.”"
So…allow us to break this down for you. The “jersey restriction policy” affects a total of three section in the Amalie Arena. It impacts the Chase Bank Club, the Lexus Lounge, and the Vology Loge area. This means this policy affects somewhere around 1,000+ fans. The Amalie Arena holds 19.092 fans for a hockey game. You do the math. This means there are more than 18,000 plus seats where you can wear anything your heart desires.
Furthermore, in the aforementioned sections are primarily frequented by Tampa Bay Lightning season ticket members. No matter which way you try to spin this, the team’s first loyalty must be to their season ticket holders and their fans. Whether you think the policy is unjustified or not, that is a simple fact.
It just saddens me, both a Tampa Bay Lightning fan and loyal season ticket holder, that we have to sit back and listen to the same drama each and every season. What makes matters worse is that it’s national media outlets like the NBC Sports Network, that are perpetuating the misinformation.
The only thing Tampa Bay Lightning fans can hope for is that somewhere down the line, these major media outlets, as well as the numerous successful smaller sites on the internet, will manage to read the policy in its entirety and represent the truth of the matter instead of attempting to incite a riot amongst fans.
Next: The Lightning Must Continue To Neutralize Sidney Crosby
In more pressing news, the Tampa Bay Lightning are preparing to take the ice at the Consol Energy Center for Game 2 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final. If you aren’t fortunate enough to be able to make the trip to the Steel City, you can catch the live broadcast on the NBC Sports Network. Should you prefer to listen to Dave Mishkin make the call, you can tune into 970WFLA.