Leaf playoff ticket prices: fair or not?

Before I get into the gist of today’s post, a quick comment on the Leafs’ visit to the sunshine state.  After a sort of skate-around loss in Tampa, a win over the hapless Panthers (last year’s surprise team in the East; food for thought) will no doubt fuel some Leaf fans that want to see someone (anyone?) other than Bozak center the Leafs’ top line. 

The Kadri insertion into the first grouping with Kessel obviously worked nicely, but my guess is a fair number of centers might have looked good against the listless Panthers alongside a red-hot Kessel.  (We can debate later the merits of putting your most creative offensive eggs in one basket at playoff time, and what can happen when teams do that…)  Hey, I’ve been saying for weeks that Kadri has been perhaps the most dynamic, creative Leaf this season, a guy with remarkable vision and smarts.  Yes, his game slid somewhat over the past while, but he has no doubt emerged as a player the other team has to be aware of whenever he’s on the ice.  I’m just not sure I would draw too many conclusions as to whether he should be moved “up”, based on a couple periods of hockey.

In any event, for one night, some Leafers were thrilled to see Kadri and Kessel side by side.  I’m guessing Bozak slides back into his familiar slot next week, but Carlyle continued his year of experimentation on Thursday night in Sunrise, Florida—just in case.

My instincts suggest (well, really, it’s more like 55 years of being part of Leafworld and being well aware of the emotional ups and downs that go hand-in-hand with this avocation) there will be a lot of debate in Leafland about who should be on our game sheet (Gardiner, etc.) in Round one.  And as I often say, that’s our privilege as fans.  We love to debate that sort of stuff and give the coach of the team plenty of input.

Carlyle’s job is to put the team on the ice that he thinks—based on knowing the roster better than any of us—has the best chance to win.

That means he will ignore us all, also sometimes part of a coach’s job.

****

I’m one of those fans who is not in a position to spend a lot of money to buy a pair of tickets to a Leaf playoff game, almost regardless of the price.  But I could not help but notice this week that MLSE has announced its playoff ticket pricing structure and not surprisingly, the cost for tickets will be, well, awfully high, eh?

Now, I suppose we can say that, in fairness to Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, they have not raised the price of playoff tickets for nine years, so hey, inflation and all that, right?  Of course, Leaf fans well know that they have not had the opportunity to gouge the ticket-paying public over those years at playoff time, and this is their first shot since 2004 to really push eager fans to spend to the max, as it were.

No doubt a lot of those seats will be bought up by big corporations—who line MLSE’s already-stuffed pockets with even more cash in these situations.  Those companies don’t likely care how much playoff ducats are; they presumably use the tickets  as tax write-offs to entertain customers.

But the “regular” season-ticket holders—and those simply looking to take in a playoff encounter—will be paying a stiff price, no question.

Now, you may be like myself and are not in a position to even consider spending that kind of money to attend a game.  Or you may live out of the Toronto market area and it’s just not realistic for you anyway.  But for those who are nearby and may have been considering a ticket purchase, did the MLSE announcement surprise you?  Do you feel the prices are fair, relative to the high cost of entertainment these days?

Maybe as importantly, do you see this as “just business”, something the Leaf owners have to do to pay the big salaries the players make? Does MLSE need to make tons of money so they earn the big profits that allow them to keep building the roster to build the “winner” fans want to see?  Or again, is this more of a cash grab that maybe makes the organization look needlessly greedy?

Some may feel that, in light of the recent lockout and the fact that the Leafs have not been very good for the past almost ten years, that as a “thank you”, the Leafs would moderate their ticket prices, even in the playoffs.

My guess is Kevin Lowe, the President of the Edmonton Oilers, was indirectly speaking for NHL ownership and management all around the league last week in his tension-filled  press conference when he announced the firing of Steve Tambellini.  Lowe essentially said (before apologizing the next day) that the Oilers care almost exclusively about “paying” customers.

Based on that revealing comment, the everyday fan was/is clearly not in the picture for NHL ownership and management. 

To be clear, in my view, the everyday fan does in fact “pay” for being a fan.  Every time a mom or dad buys a pack of hockey cards for their kids, every time they pay (for themselves or a family member) for a licensed jersey, they are giving money to the NHL, the PA and to the Maple Leafs.  Every time they listen to the radio or watch games on TV, it drives up “ratings”—ratings that allow teams to charge huge amounts to corporations for critically important advertising revenue for the owners.  So we “little people” fans matter, too.

But teams don’t much care, it seems.  They essentially care about those in the building, and mostly about corporate seat and suite buyers and those in a financial position to purchase expensive season tickets.

I recognize that that is life, and it’s how things are in sports nowadays.  And corporations will charge what the market is willing to pay.

I’m not sure that makes it right, or fair, or even justifiable, but I’m guessing many people see it, again, as just “business” and a case of supply and demand.

Some of you visiting here may recall that I’ve made various suggestions over time, things MLSE could do for fans in light of the lockout (and, I suppose, almost ten years of sub-par hockey).  They could, for example, set aside one night a season and fill the ACC with kids who otherwise would never have the means to get to a game (and their care-givers, at no charge…while giving regular season-ticket holders the night off).  Then we’d see people in their seats in the lower bowel, and we’d hear noise in the rink like nobody’s business.

But that kind of stuff would never be initiated by an organization like Maple Leaf Sports.  They’d give all kinds of reasons why they can’t, and cite all the “good things” they already do in the community as ways they give back to the community.

But my sense is they would never give where it would “hurt”—in their corporate pocket book.

In any event, how do you see the playoff ticket announcement? Are you angry, disappointed, think it's just fine or simply don’t care?  Do you accept this as the way things have to be in sports, or are the Leafs taking advantage of the situation?