Globe and Mail: Toronto Maple Leafs season-ticket holders cry foul as club uses data from resale market to raise prices

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hockeywiz542

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May 26, 2008
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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.

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.
 
Justify however you want .. we have had 3 generations of tickets in family back to MLG .. since MLSE ticket prices have soared .. eventually it will eliminate the average fan even up in top deck where we sit .. da lower deck has always been corporate from like mid 80s onward .. in 60s and 70s it was mostly buddies going to games .. it is an interesting story to see changes in subscriber base over da years
 

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.

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.
That's the part that gets me as well having to boost the price just to break even. It's why I try to sell to friends/neighbours/members here first so we can skip the service fees.

Had tickets since 99 when they moved to the new building, when the bill came in on deadline day it was the first time I've thought about giving them up.

Next season, 2 seats row 17(2nd last row) $10,368.00

Playoffs this season, same seats, 16 games $14,280.00
Round 1 - 1912.00
Round 2 - 2488.00
Round 3 - 3952.00
Round 4 - 5928.00
 
That's the part that gets me as well having to boost the price just to break even. It's why I try to sell to friends/neighbours/members here first so we can skip the service fees.

Had tickets since 99 when they moved to the new building, when the bill came in on deadline day it was the first time I've thought about giving them up.

Next season, 2 seats row 17(2nd last row) $10,368.00

Playoffs this season, same seats, 16 games $14,280.00
Round 1 - 1912.00
Round 2 - 2488.00
Round 3 - 3952.00
Round 4 - 5928.00
And yet the tickets are still relatively cheap, even in the playoffs, compared to concert tickets these days. Supply and demand will do what it does.
 
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Concerts you can justify.
The Artist may only come around every few years, for one night and they are no longer making money off of albums.
I don't disagree. It's more that this is just the nature of the market. Live event prices have risen across the board, especially in larger markets.
 
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Good for ML$E.

I wouldn't be happy with someone selling those tickets for a profit either. There should be a short list on who can use those seats. At least one person on the list has to attend.

Corporations should also be required to pay a premium.

The more fans who don't renew their seats the better anyway. Maybe a drop in attendance would incite change in the on-ice product. Too bad we all know that will never happen.

Must be hard giving up on a long proud tradition of paying extortionist prices for a mediocre team with greedy owners.

Millionaires supporting billionaires. This is no longer about the average bluecollar fan bringing his family out to cheer the team on to a championship. It's all about gouging the consumer regardless of whether the team is successful or even any good.

Ballard himself admitted Leafs fans have more money than brains.
 
Not uncommon. My boss has Detroit Lions season tickets and his costs went up about 125% over the last seasons.

They also don't like you re-selling your tickets, although he is usually able to sell tickets for 1 or 2 games and make enough to pay for the next season.
 
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Same thing happened with my Canucks tickets in Vancouver. This coming season will be my last as I can’t justify the tickets prices anymore
 
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I said it before in a different thread, but the cost of tickets and the cost of different streaming services to watch Leafs games means my son will likely never become a hockey fan.

I simply can't afford to take him to games. I've taken him to 1 game and he loved it, but I don't have any way for him to watch hockey at the house. I refuse to pay for multiple streaming services just to find out some games are blacked out in my area.

When I was 9, I loved hockey. I played and watched it as much as possible. My son hasn't grown up with hockey on the TV like I did, so he hasn't developed a passion for it.

They can get away with raising prices now, but what is the effect of this 20-30 years from now? I feel like they're killing hockey for an entire generation.

I've already given up my tickets, and they were in my family for probably 50 years. Simply couldn't justify the cost anymore. It's sad really, but I've found new hobbies instead of watching the Leafs. I follow along, but there were few bigger fans than me once upon a time. Their greed killed it.
 
Instead of the government subsidizing those in business suits ruining the atmosphere around this team through business expense write offs, why not stop allowing sports tickets as a write-off and instead lower or remove the taxation of sports teams to allow them to compete? I'm sure if that happened the rules would immediately change around salary caps as Bettman continues to prop up playing ice hockey in the sand states, so consider it a short term experiment.
 
For the perhaps 25% of season tickets held by individuals this sucks, even though come on, yeah - 41 home games, it's improbable that you'll go to them all, you just gonna let them rot?

The remaining 75% that belong to some corporation so they can schmooze clients and 'reward'* employees? Lol, lmao.

* - 'Wow sweet, tickets to see the Leafs vs...the Wild! I'd rather just have more money, please.
 

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