The Heat and Panthers have home games on back-to-back days. What will they look like?
When the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers arrive in South Florida for their first home games, the teams will be received by frantic fans and two strikingly different festivities.
The Heat will host its first home NBA Finals game since 2014 on Wednesday, and the Kaseya Center will be pretty much business as usual. No special events. No extra pregame concert. No extraordinary activities. Just a good, old-fashioned battle between the Heat and the Denver Nuggets.
Heat fans in search of a more high-profile experience can check out the Courtside Club, Bacardi Ocho Lounge or the AT&T East Plaza, the latter of which has a DJ and a $35 All You Can Eat deal that lasts until the end of the first quarter. And if the Heat wins, expect the famous “x out” that has become somewhat of fan favorite this postseason.
“I think something that’s caught on with the fans is the X-ing out of the wins on the front façade of the building,” Lorrie‑Ann Diaz, the Heat’s vice president of business communications and social responsibility, said via email. “Fans have gathered out front after every game [home or away] to chant Lets GO HEAT as the countdown from 16 wins [to 0] has continued.”
Go roughly 35 miles north to Sunrise and FLA Live Arena, the home of the Panthers, will be a bit different come Thursday evening. The 305’s own Flo Rida will rock the crowd ahead of the Panthers’ matchup against the Las Vegas Knights, a continuation of the NHL Stanley Cup Final concert series that has already featured Marshmello and Lil Jon ahead of games 1 and 2, respectively. Don’t have a ticket? No problem — there will be a viewing party will also be hosted outside the arena that will turn into a celebration with a DJ following the game.
The difference in activities makes sense considering each team’s recent success. Although Wednesday will be the Heat’s first home finals game in seven years, the franchise is no stranger to success having won three titles since 2006. The Heat also made the Finals in 2020. The pandemic meant that series against the Los Angeles Lakers was played in the NBA Bubble.
Thursday marks the Panthers’ first home, Stanely Cup Final game since the FLA Live Arena opened in 1998. The Panthers last made the Final in 1996.
