Rangers fan claims he was screwed out of nearly $2,000 NHL Stadium Series tickets: ‘My family was humiliated’
Sunday’s 2024 NHL Stadium Series showdown between the Rangers and Islanders at MetLife Stadium was one of the best hockey games of the year, but for one Blueshirts fan, the day was filled with headaches and heartache after he was denied entry into the venue.
Anthony Dos Santos of Newark was looking forward to the outdoor matchup after he spent $1,644.95 on tickets in October through a presale code on Ticketmaster.
But when the 28-year-old showed up at the stadium, he claims he was told that the eight tickets he bought for him and his family had already been scanned, and MetLife Stadium employees did little to help to try to resolve the issue, and his group was not allowed into the game, he told The Post in a message.
“I spent 3.5 hours before the game in 30-degree weather tailgating excited with a group of over 10 of my closest family members and friends, and when we got to the door of MetLife stadium we were told the 8 tickets I was scanning were ‘scanned already an hour ago,’” Dos Santos wrote.
Stadium for the Stadium Series game. @Antdos1117/X
The longtime Rangers fan said he provided the stadium staff with “every single ounce of proof” to show he had been the one who had purchased the tickets and that he hadn’t already scanned any of them to get in.
Documents viewed by The Post showed the New Jersey native had purchased and received confirmation for tickets in section 103 for Sunday’s rivalry matchup between the Rangers and Islanders.
A bank statement showed he was charged more than $1,500 for the tickets, and a screenshot of his Ticketmaster account indicated that the tickets hadn’t been sold prior to the game, which a MetLife Stadium employee had suggested he might have done.
All of that information was presented to the employees scanning tickets outside MetLife Stadium as he desperately tried to get into the game he had been so thrilled about for months, but he and his family members were not allowed entry.
“They basically told me they couldn’t do anything for me at all,” Dos Santos said about the MetLife Stadium employees. “They were rude and dismissive and when I asked if they could go to my seats and verify with the other people who they claimed scanned, they said no. And told me to go get a refund.”
Dos Santos said he has reached out to Ticketmaster, the official resale partner of the Rangers and the NHL, and was told he would hear from a supervisor in 24-48 hours, but the experience angered him so much that he took to social media so that other hockey fans could be forewarned, and in the process, seemed to have brought together rival fan bases.
A Facebook post of his garnered more than 400 comments from fellow hockey fans, and a post on X drew compassion from Islanders and even Devils fans.
“MetLife stadium could have gotten me into that game if they wanted to or cared enough, especially because my family and I could tell that they knew it was Ticketmaster that was the issue, not me,” he said.
“My family was humiliated and left without a life memory because of things out of our control.”
Dos Santos did praise the Rangers and hockey community for rallying around his story and called it an “emotional day” seeing the support he received online.
The 28-year-old said that the Rangers, whom he doesn’t hold at fault for what happened, reached out to him on social media after seeing his post.
The Rangers are planning on hosting Dos Santos at an upcoming game after hearing about his ordeal, a team source confirmed to The Post.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
MetLife Stadium did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Post regarding the situation either.
The Rangers rallied from a 4-1 deficit against the Islanders to tie the game with 1:29 left in regulation before Artemi Panarin scored the game-winner 10 seconds into overtime.
The massive comeback made the game one for the ages, but did little to quell the disappointment of Dos Santos.
“This should have never happened,” he said. “The game ending in the team I’ve been a super fan of since I was born coming back from down 5-3 to win 6-5 in OT and me not being there didn’t help.
“I had to read about it being ‘the greatest outdoor game ever’ as I was taking Tylenol for my splitting headache at home”
