TICKET PRICES GOING UP

Even though the Toronto Raptors just had one of the worst seasons in franchise history, ticket prices are going up.

Prices rose steadily over the years as the Raptors emerged as a contender and then an NBA champion. But for those who thought a pause was in order, well, ownership had other ideas.

Ujiri was asked Wednesday what his role is in ticket pricing and said he has some input, mostly blamed market factors and admitted to having some sympathy for fans.

“I would say it's above me, but it's also concerning my team. So yes, we have 100 per cent input in this,” Ujiri said of his Raptors leadership group.

“I think we have to look at market prices everywhere. We have to look at the NBA. I think we have to consider our market (one of the largest in North America and by far the biggest in Canada, not to mention the Raptors fans across the country who travel to attend games) and we have to consider the fans too in every way. So it's been looked at in every single possible way that it can be looked at and studied as much as we can and considered, a lot of consideration is made into this,” he said. “So when these kinds of moves are made we feel, you feel for the for the fans sometimes, you know, but this is how business works and we have to find a way.”

Sports Business Journal reported last month that MLSE SVP/Ticket Sales/Services Tom McDonald said that the average season ticket price increase for the Raptors' 2024-25 season will “be about” 4 per cent, which is “among the lowest in the league and one of the lowest for the Raptors over the last decade.