Panthers' Success on Ice Leads to Economic Boom

The Florida Panthers have put the city of Sunrise, Florida on the map. Sunrise used to be known as the city where the largest indoor outlet mall is located, Sawgrass Mills. People used to refer to the city as "Fort Lauderdale" before the Panthers came to town. Now, Sunrise is a booming metropolis.

Thanks to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the city is thriving and residents are proud to equate Sunrise with their hometown team.

"All the naysayers in the beginning, it's like, ice hockey in South Florida? Team is in the middle of the Everglades?" Panthers President and CEO Matt Caldwell told Fox News Digital.

Caldwell believes Sunrise is a beautiful city and the parties have a great marriage.

"We tried to embrace all that and say, well, that's the beauty of this," Caldwell said. "Like, we have such a challenging mission… so it’s amazing that we’ve recreated the image."

During the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2024, the Panthers have pumped more than $100 million into the local economy — the figure is expected to multiply even greater this season.

Caldwell remembers when the team was struggling to get people in the seats. Hockey was an unknown commodity when the Panthers first hit the ice and people in South Florida took their time getting adjusted to the new franchise.

There were also additional lean years when the team was not very good and could not draw a crowd.

"We had the worst record in the league, all of our financial metrics from season tickets to sponsorship to attendance. All of our ancillary businesses were all at the bottom of the league. So it's a daunting task," he added. "It was a team that was really struggling financially, it was losing a lot of money. And my more kind of short, medium-term goal was to just get it financially stable."

Now, it's the hottest ticket in town and Stanley Cup Final tickets are skyrocketing. The Panthers are selling out watch parties for the road games in Edmonton.

"What I tried to inspire with the staff and with our hockey operations… I really wanted to have an inspirational sense of purpose. And what I talked to our staff about a lot was, let's be the greatest turnaround in sports history," Caldwell said. "Winning is the No. 1 ingredient in sports to financial success, ultimately."