Pittsburgh Stanley Cup viewing party crowd is preposterous (Photos)
PITTSBURGH – As is tradition, a Jumbotron-sized video screen sits outside CONSOL Energy Center ahead of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night, and Pittsburgh Penguins fans have shut down one of the streets near the arena to watch a feed of the game.
But the crowd is larger than ever for what might be the team’s first Stanley Cup raising on home ice, should they eliminate the San Jose Sharks.
Here’s the scene right near the screen:
Fans started lining up at 9 a.m. with lawn chairs to watch a game on television. By 5 p.m., the viewing part had already reached capacity, so the Penguins and the City of Pittsburgh actually opened up a second viewing party at Market Square, roughly a 15-minute walk to the arena.
Two hours before puck drop, streams of fans made the walk of over-capacity from CONSOL to the other viewing party, chairs in tow.
Another look outside the arena:
Won’t anyone think of the NBC ratings?!
Well, no, they won’t, because unlike other markets that had their parties pooped on by the network, the NHL and NBC can be confident that even with tens of thousands of fans watching the game outdoors, the ratings will still be incredible locally
What those fans do if the Penguins win? Hopefully just head to the bars…
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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