Ticket holders on fence about returning to arena
LEAFS, RAPTORS FANS ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED OVER HIKE IN SEAT PRICES DURING LOCKDOWN
Alex ( not his real name) is a longtime season- ticket holder for both the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs, and he rarely misses a game.
He just doesn’t know when or if he’ll ever go to another game at Scotiabank Arena.
He knows it won’t be any time soon.
“My life is worth way more than a sporting event,” he told me Wednesday. “You will not see me in the arena. I won’t go (until there’s a vaccine for COVID-19 or some kind of assurance the virus has been defeated).
“I don’t think I’m alone in this. I’ve talked to a lot of people in the same situation. They’re saying the same things I’m saying. And I’m furious with what ( Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment) is doing. They’re trying to collect money when they don’t know if there’s going to be a season. They’re trying to collect money when people are struggling left, right and centre, people who have businesses who don’t know if they’ll have businesses when all this is over.
“I think it’s different for the Leafs than it is for the Raptors. The Leafs have a more corporate season-ticket base, in my view. The Raptors are probably more individuals, smaller businesses. What happens when all this is over? Your guess is as good as mine.”
MLSE is trying hard to be the good citizen as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on in Ontario. They’re trying to do the right things in a “yeah, but” kind of way. They’ve opened up their big arena and their kitchens to help feed the front-line heroes around Toronto.
Now they’ve gone to BMO Field and have expanded the project. That’s commendable — just less so when you figure they’re doing it, essentially, with Alex’s money.
On Wednesday, an email was sent out to Leafs and Raptors season- ticket holders — and Alex was one of them — indicating another break in the scheduled season- ticket payment plan for next season, assuming, of course, that there is a next season, or that when games are next played, fans will be involved in any way.
The first deadline to pay 23 per cent of season ticket money was originally April 8. After a lot of complaining, the date was changed to May 8. Then, the date for first payment was changed to June 8.
In addition to the June 8 extension, ticket holders for the Leafs and Raptors games that weren’t played but have yet to be cancelled are being offered refunds. That’s pretty new and progressive, considering what’s going on around the sports world.
If you want your money, if you need the money, you can get it within 30 days. If you don’t want the money, you can apply the lost games — seven Leafs games, nine Raptors games — to next year’s ticket payments.
That’s fair.
What’s not fair?
Leafs tickets have gone up nine per cent for the coming season. Raptors tickets have gone up eight per cent. The Raptors increase is explainable based on performance. The Leafs can’t say the same, having not won a playoff series since I was in my 40s.
Why does MLSE do this? Because they can.
The NHL salary cap was expected to rise to around the US$ 88 million mark, had the season or parts of it not been lost. That’s essentially a nine per cent increase over last year’s salary cap. Except now, the salary cap will likely remain around the US$ 81 million mark for the coming season. So the nine per cent increase was to cover the nine per cent increase in salary costs.
Are there plans now to reduce the price of tickets for this possibility of a season? No.
“The pricing model was calculated long before the pandemic hit,” said Jeff Deline, MLSE’S chief revenue officer. “You can’t go back in time.”
Actually, you can. If MLSE truly wants to be good to its ticket buyers, the next thing it would announce is a return to this year’s pricing, which is already the highest in hockey. It’s not a lot, necessarily. But it’s something.
“Trying to deal with the whole pandemic has been very, very difficult, for everyone,” said Deline. “That’s why we have deferred the payments twice. That’s why we have offered refunds for games that technically haven’t been cancelled. ... This has affected everyone. We’re trying to be as responsible and caring as we can.”
Meanwhile, Alex, and other season- ticket holders, remain frustrated and angry in these days of difficulty.
“How do they, in good conscience, collect money when you don’t know if there’s going to be a season?” Alex asked.
“How do you that when so many people are struggling?”
MY LIFE IS WORTH WAY MORE THAN A SPORTING EVENT. YOU WILL NOT SEE ME IN THE ARENA. I WON’T GO (UNTIL THERE’S A VACCINE FOR COVID-19).