Teams reported seeing more pre-wedding festivities at their games. Bianca Henninger, vice president of ticketing for Los Angeles’ Angel City FC, part of the National Women’s Soccer League, said the groups buying special packages tend to be bachelor and bachelorette parties (she’s seen several this season).
There have been three bachelor and bachelorette parties at games for the Connecticut Sun, a WNBA team that plays at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., this season, said Caroline O’Keefe, the team’s communications manager.
Hannah Beckman, a spokeswoman for the New York Sirens, the New York women’s professional hockey team that plays at the Prudential Center in Newark, said that this season a bachelor party, dressed in suits and wearing Sirens hats, came to the game hours before the groom’s wedding ceremony.
Some teams offer special perks to groups: showcasing them on the Jumbotron, giving them photo opportunities with star players and handing out merchandise.
When Ariane Lefebvre, 34, a kindergarten teacher in Montreal, celebrated her bachelorette party on February 15 at Place Bell, home of the Victoire de Montréal, a Canadian women’s hockey team. They arrived at the Jumbotron. “I showed my engagement ring on the screen and everyone applauded,” she said. “It was a really fun time.”
Ms. Lefebvre, who married her husband Francis Marleau Donais in May, was also able to meet two of her favorite players, Claire Dalton and Sandra Abstreiter, after the game. “We took a photo,” she said. The bride-to-be wore her jersey, white skirt, cowboy boots and white bow to attend the game.
