I went to the Desert Hockey Classic on Sunday, Jan...

I went to the Desert Hockey Classic on Sunday, January 10th.

Awesome to see a college hockey tournament here in the Valley, level of competition was excellent. How Gila River Arena handled the games, especially on Sunday, was awful at best. On Sunday they had very limited options for seating aside from your ticketed seat as well as food and beverages, and did not have the Terrace Bar open as an option between games. After being handed a thermal printed ticket when my phone was scanned for initial entry, and being told that it was for reentry, when we attempted to go out and get something more substantial than pretzel bites and nachos, we were told that leaving the arena meant we would have to purchase new tickets to see the second game.

I'm not a college kid anymore. If I am spending six hours at a hockey tournament, I want to be able to eat something that isn't an $8 hot dog and wash it down with something that is not 20 ounces of flat, warm, $11 beer. It would also be nice to have a chance to take in some other sporting events that are going on that day since there was an hour of down time between the two games.

I get that the venue doesn't want me leaving, they want my money, it's the same reason you can't bring your own food or beverage in, but locking me in a building with gas station cuisine and poorly managed beer is pretty insulting and then to tell me I can't go give money to someone who will at least try to earn it is reprehensible.