Walk-in Panther fans face a $5 fee at the gate

The free-parking game for Panthers fans is ending. A new team fee targets those who park at Sawgrass Mills and walk to games.

 

BY GEORGE RICHARDS

grichards@MiamiHerald.com

 

Frugal hockey fans who save money by parking for free at Sawgrass Mills and dashing across Panther Parkway traffic lanes on game nights are about to get hit -- in the wallet.

 

Starting July 1, the Panthers will start charging a $5 fee to anyone walking onto the property for any event at BankAtlantic Center.

 

Reason for the new fee: safety concerns and the traffic delays caused by fans darting through traffic, said Michael Yormark, Panthers chief operating officer, in a letter to season ticket holders.

 

''We need to fix this problem today,'' said Yormark. "We have people backed up for 30 minutes or more trying to get into our building. After games it's probably worse trying to get out.''

 

Some fans, however, think it is crazy for the Panthers, who frequently play in front of hundreds of empty seats, to sock those fans who do show up with an added fee.

 

Yormark says money raised will go to charity -- the first beneficiary will be Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Broward. It costs $15 to park at the arena, although season ticket holders can prepay for $10 passes. Free parking is available to those who drive Lexus vehicles.

 

''This is the best option we could come up with,'' Yormark said. "We think it's going to create a safer environment for people coming into our building.''

 

While traffic backs up with pedestrians crossing the streets, there haven't been any major injuries and those who park at Sawgrass seem upset with the decision.

 

JAYWALKING PLANNED

 

Some fans say they will just jaywalk across Panther Parkway (136th Street) instead of crossing at the light and walking up to the planned payment gate.

 

''You can just walk through the grass. They can't patrol that whole area,'' said Mark Wisby, who drove to Saturday's game from Cutler Ridge with sons Tyler and Stephen.

 

Yormark says a fence will be erected around the perimeter of the parking lots to discourage fans from running through traffic to get onto arena property without paying.

 

`NOT SURPRISED'

 

''I'm not surprised because people try to make a buck wherever they can. This is another sneaky way of making a dollar,'' said fan Jay Pagan of West Palm Beach. "If there's not a big outcry, then they're going to get away with it. For me, it's not going to stop me from coming to games. But it's going to be hard to enforce.''

 

Yormark added those parked at the arena who want to walk to the mall would get special passes so not to be charged twice.

 

But fans are still grumbling.

 

''It's ridiculous,'' said Wisby. "One of the things that's nice about this arena is people can come up here, spend the day at the mall then walk across and go to the game. It's convenient having the mall so close.''

 

Yormark says the team has been working on the problem for months. He added he has informed Sunrise as well as the Broward County Board of Commissioners about the new deal. The arena was built with county tax money and the team runs the arena for the county.

 

OTHER OPTIONS

 

Yormark said he has spoken with Sawgrass Mills officials in the past, and doubts a pedestrian bridge would be feasible. Redirecting traffic to other arena entrances is also being looked at, although most who park at the main gate -- where the pedestrians cross -- are high-money customers who pay a premium for parking there.

 

''When this building was built, it was never contemplated that there would be walkovers from the mall,'' he said. "We know this is a major issue and think we've come up with the best solution.''

 

This isn't the first time a pro sports team has tried to discourage fans from parking for free and walking to games.

 

In 2000, the Washington Redskins began closing off streets around their suburban stadium, forcing fans who who parked for free at nearby Landover Mall to pay for a bus ride to the stadium.

 

Four years later, the Board of Administrative Appeals in Prince George's County, Md., said the road closures were improper.

 

Free parking was resumed for those willing to make the hike to the stadium

Miami Herald

Noooo! I park at Sawgrass all the time.

 

 

Reason for the new fee: safety concerns and the traffic delays caused by fans darting through traffic, said Michael Yormark, Panthers chief operating officer, in a letter to season ticket holders.

Yet they've said the fees are going to charity, so why are they charging if it's not paying for anything? I don't think $5 is going to deter people from doing it.

Probably not the best idea, but I doubt that it causes a serious hit at the gate.

Noooo! I park at Sawgrass all the time.

 

 

Reason for the new fee: safety concerns and the traffic delays caused by fans darting through traffic, said Michael Yormark, Panthers chief operating officer, in a letter to season ticket holders.

Yet they've said the fees are going to charity, so why are they charging if it's not paying for anything? I don't think $5 is going to deter people from doing it.

 

 

This will bring attendance down. You are thinking $5.00 per car. It is actually $5.00 per person. What do you think will happen when a family of four starts getting charged $5.00 per person and the alternative is to pay $15.00 in the arena? They will stop going.

The result of this is going to be people entering the property through areas that aren't entrances so they won't be charged. That doesn't really help safety. It's obvious they just want people to park at the stadium so they can get mo money, like charging $4 for a f***ing coke isn't making them enough.

Yeah, I think this means more people just trying to sneak onto the property.

 

The whole idea seems ridiculous. You're going to charge people who are walking to the arena in order to use the tickets they bought. I honestly wonder if this even legal. You can't sell people something, and then make it so that they HAVE to pay an additional fee just to use that something you already sold them. Or maybe you can, I don't know. Still seems ridiculous. They'd better make the policy very clear to anyone buying a ticket for that venue.

 

A better idea would be to just lower the fee for parking on site to $10...if they're really so worried about safety.

Yeah, I think this means more people just trying to sneak onto the property.

 

The whole idea seems ridiculous. You're going to charge people who are walking to the arena in order to use the tickets they bought. I honestly wonder if this even legal. You can't sell people something, and then make it so that they HAVE to pay an additional fee just to use that something you already sold them. Or maybe you can, I don't know. Still seems ridiculous. They'd better make the policy very clear to anyone buying a ticket for that venue.

 

A better idea would be to just lower the fee for parking on site to $10...if they're really so worried about safety.

 

True, just lowering the onsite parking would eliminate this whole "safety" issue. This only encourages those parking at Sawgrass to jaywalk across the street, which is even less safe then before

This really sucks ass. Hopefully we?ll figure out where to walk in without getting charged. I wonder how this would apply to people getting dropped off? Couldnt you just drop everyone off and then park at sawgrass, therefore saving like 15 dollars or so

Couldnt you just drop everyone off and then park at sawgrass, therefore saving like 15 dollars or so

 

No. Every walk-in patron gets charged; even people arriving by bus.

Yeah, I think this means more people just trying to sneak onto the property.

...

 

Hopefully we?ll figure out where to walk in without getting charged.

The climatic scene in "Born In East L.A." comes to mind, with the pollos being the fans and the migra being Panthers security.

I support this 100%.

 

Getting out of the BAC parking lot after a game is an absolute nightmare because of all the foot traffic walking across the intersections back to the Sawgrass parking lots, sometimes it takes 30 minutes just to get out of the BAC parking lot because the amount of people walking across the streets back to their cars are just endless.

 

If they want to solve the problem, then they would take the $5 per person fee and use it to build a pedestrian bridge over the streets. Or the police could force all the pedestrians to wait while the parking lot empties out, rather than make all of the people who actually PAID for parking wait.

 

Some season ticket-holders were thrilled with the idea of the pedestrian fee.

 

"I think it's fantastic," said Mike Conley, a season ticket-holder from Pompano Beach. "Not that I want the arena to make money, but these people create such a traffic jam. These scammer people pay nothing."

 

Preach it brother! :lol

The one time I parked in the parking lot this year, I got out in 2 minutes.