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NHL teams aim to fill arenas, drawing fans away from screens

DETROIT — Red Wings season-ticket holder Matt Larson pays about $74 for two of the cheapest seats in Little Caesars Arena.

The 32-year-old fan gets a pair of chairs set up behind a counter — giving him plenty of space for food and drink — in a spacious area perched near the rafters behind a net.

“There’s nothing better than watching hockey in person,” Larson said recently while watching Detroit host Chicago in a preseason game.

The Red Wings, and every other NHL team, hope there are a lot of people who agree with him.

Detroit is desperately trying to keep fans filing into its arena, which is a little more than two years old, as the allure of the spectacular facility wears off while the team trudges through a multiyear rebuild.