Delta Flies Rangers Fans For Free On 17-minute Flight To Devils Game

Delta Air Lines is giving Rangers fans a free lift to game three of the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday. The catch, however, is that the game is in northern New Jersey – meaning the free flight from LaGuardia Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport is far more trouble than it’s worth.

Any fan that does take Delta up on the offer must first take the time to go through airport security at LaGuardia to board a 10 a.m. charter flight. Once it takes off, the flight should only last somewhere around 17 minutes – but according to Delta it will be a short but sweet flight featuring prizes and Rangers legends Ron Duguay and Rod Gilbert. The trip includes free transportation from the airport to the Prudential Center for the game, and when it’s over fans will be brought back to LaGuardia on a returning flight.

The two airports are separated by just over 20 miles, a distance that (without traffic) should take about 38 minutes to drive. Fans also have the option of train travel, which is estimated to take about 20 minutes from Madison Square Garden to the Prudential Center.

If you seriously want to take Delta up on the offer – and we’re not really sure why you would – fill out a form on the Rangers website by 5 p.m. EST today to be entered in the promotion. Fans must already have tickets to the game and be able to present valid identification.

[Flickr photo via redlegsfan21]

Kansas City’s empty arena

There’s a modern ghost town in Kansas City. Efforts to attract a major league basketball or hockey team came up empty, and the Sprint Center stands empty. Then NBA and NHL have been looking to smaller cities for expansion opportunities, according to an article in The Atlantic, because they won’t have to compete with local baseball or football teams for fan dollars. Since Kansas City has both, filling the Sprint Center has become quite a chore.

Since it doesn’t have the 200 events a year that were expected, the Kansas City Sprint Center is just hanging around and operating at a loss. One hopes this does not splash over to the surrounding businesses – such as restaurants – that were opened in anticipation of 18,500 asses in seats for hockey games, concerts and whatever else they can drag into town.

The arena is an architectural marvel but, for now, a commercial disaster. How else would you describe an attraction that there’s no reason to visit?

The Sprint Center is even empty on Twitter, where it has only 102 followers.