Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews skates with the puck ahead of forward Max Domi in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on March 15.Dan Hamilton/Reuters
It’s one of the less-pleasant rites of spring around these parts: Every year, Toronto Maple Leafs season-ticket members receive an e-mail asking if they’d like to renew for next season, and pretty much each time, they face a price increase that’s higher than the rate of inflation.
“They always go up,” said Jacquelyn Middleton, a Toronto-based author who has had a pair of upper-bowl tickets since the 1992-93 season. When Middleton got her renewal notice last month, she joked on social media that she’d have to break out the Kraft Dinner to afford her continuing fandom.
Most Leafs fans shrug off the annual increases as one of life’s inevitabilities. But this year, Patrick O’Brien was dismayed when his account representative told him why his tickets were going up to about $11,900 plus tax, an increase of about 9 per cent for next season. (Playoff tickets are extra – this year, they’re up between 7 and 22 per cent, depending on the round.)
For decades, Leafs season tickets have been notoriously hard to obtain because a significant number are held by corporations, which can write them off as business expenses and are generally less sensitive to price hikes than individual fans.
O’Brien, 27, has had season tickets in his family since his grandfather landed a pair in 1976 after being on the wait list for about 15 years; control of the tickets passed to him in the spring of 2020. He regards it as a privilege and speaks about the tickets as if he is a steward of a shared public trust. He resents others who flip their tickets on resale sites, such as Ticketmaster or StubHub, for outrageous profits just because the market will bear it.
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz makes a save on Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett while defended by Oliver Ekman-Larsson during first period NHL hockey action, in Toronto, on March 13.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
That’s part of why the justification for this year’s price increase got under his skin. In an e-mail from his Leafs ticket account rep, which he shared with The Globe and Mail, he was told the company “analyzed transaction data from the resale market, along with sales data from our single-ticket inventory, to better understand ticket demand.” The e-mail noted that the information “helps us develop pricing that reflects market trends while ensuring our members continue to receive the lowest package price and an exclusive discount.”
“We feel we’re charging what the market tells us our tickets are worth,” the rep added.
In an interview, O’Brien said he felt the team was taking advantage of its most loyal customers.
“I know they still need to make money off seats. I don’t want this to implicate the on-ice performance of the Leafs – that matters the most,” he said.
“If they gave me line items – like, inflation in Canada is three per cent, the NHL salary cap is up X per cent, the cost to run a game is up two per cent – that kind of thing, I would definitely understand it. But they’re letting unknown actors control the ticket prices for them. Which is a very strange business concept to me, and an unfair one.”
Part of what irks O’Brien is that, if he’s unable to use the tickets or sell them to a friend, by putting them up for sale through the official Leafs portal (a process handled by Ticketmaster) he pays a 10-per-cent commission. So, if he doesn’t want to lose money, he has to increase the sale price by at least 11 per cent. When the club incorporates that information into its calculations for the next season, “I’m raising the prices on myself, basically,” he says.
Middleton, too, is irritated by the club using data from resale sites, which she believes might skew prices higher. “It makes me wince, because so many of us don’t put our tickets on those markets,” she said in an interview. “So, for them to base a raise on that kind of information is kind of disappointing. They’re raising all of our tickets because of that, but many of us don’t use those systems and don’t do those things.”
In an e-mailed statement David Haggith, the vice-president of communications for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the Leafs’ parent company, told The Globe and Mail: “Each year, the organization uses a range of factors and market trends to determine its member ticket pricing strategy which includes demand and team performance.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Max Domi scores a goal and celebrates with center Bobby McMann against the Florida Panthers during the third period at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on March 13.Nick Turchiaro/Reuters
“The impact of the secondary market is but one piece of data that factors into the overall pricing strategy. Season seat membership provides a number of valuable benefits for ticket holders, including a significant discount on single-game ticket pricing, which has contributed to a historical team renewal average of ninety-nine percent, among the highest in the league.”
O’Brien acknowledges that the price increase might not be quite as irksome if MLSE had improved the fan experience for those around him, as they have recently done for the most well-heeled customers, spending a reported $350-million on upgrades focused on premium sections. “Our section, 303, has had two beer carts and a snack kiosk since I was a kid, and a massive line for the washrooms.”
Middleton says she’s resigned to doing whatever it takes to keep going to games. “Any reason they’re going to give me about the increase isn’t going to change what I’m going to do,” she said. “No one’s forcing me to do this. I’m making that choice based on my desire to hopefully see them keep going and maybe win a Cup.”
O’Brien recognizes that he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter, beyond paying up or losing the tickets forever. He thinks about the fact that his grandfather first put his name on a wait list in 1961, and didn’t get his tickets until 15 years later (nine years after the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup); they’ve now been in the family for almost five decades. “If I stop paying, with all of what my grandfather’s done – he loves going to games – someone would just replace me with a snap of the fingers. So, you’re kind of forced to accept it.”