MLSE Ticket Sales Declining

[DelAbbot]

Too many rich and basketball-ignorant people in the GTA pay the exuberant prices MLSE charge. We poors are priced out.

With the slowing Canadian economy, the rich are cutting back, but the MLSE-set prices don't change. We poors continue to be priced out.

When Pelley said "we need to work on fan engagement" he meant engagement of the rich fans.

[Kingsway_fan]

Too many rich and basketball-ignorant people in the GTA pay the exuberant prices MLSE charge. We poors are priced out.

With the slowing Canadian economy, the rich are cutting back, but the MLSE-set prices don't change. We poors continue to be priced out.

When Pelley said "we need to work on fan engagement" he meant engagement of the rich fans.

... more and more they are corporate owned ticket holders, both Raptors and Leafs... hence, the lack of atmosphere now evident... empty lower bowl seats to start the 3rd quarter,... more empty seats will, over time, send a message...for now its close to full... at least paid seats...

Toronto is so overpriced on so many levels its insane... sports is just one example.

[Troubadour]

My personal opinion is MLSE views a sellout as a sign that they could have priced tickets higher. 90-95% attendance is better than leaving margin on the table in their eyes.

[DelAbbot]

My personal opinion is MLSE views a sellout as a sign that they could have priced tickets higher. 90-95% attendance is better than leaving margin on the table in their eyes.

That's a good case-study in economics. By doing that, MLSE is doing 2 things
1) Maximizing the total revenue, at a point on the curve with less than 100% attendence
2) Capturing a different set of fans (profiles) to attend the high priced home games

I think 1) makes sense but 2) is potentially long-term alienating the common fans at the SBA gates.

[ForeverTFC]

The canadian economy in general is dog sh*t and youre seeing discretionary spending decline

It's not just the Canadian economy. Everything is expensive everywhere.

Billionaires are hoarding wealth as the middle class is destroyed.

Indeed . Not so much Canada as taxes already high there, but in USA... Was privy to an Antarctica 2028 full circumnavigation cruise, 2 months (I inquired) --lowest cost cabin was 230,000 euros [$370,000 cad] with 25 percent deposit now.... it pre sold most of the cabins on ship within a week [mostly Americans] ... before any public announcement yet to happen or be posted on its web site.

Billionaires aren't going on cruises. This is largely wealth generated and held by the boomers. Let them spend it; better that than passing it down for the economy.

[Thaddy]

It's not just the Canadian economy. Everything is expensive everywhere.

Billionaires are hoarding wealth as the middle class is destroyed.

Indeed . Not so much Canada as taxes already high there, but in USA... Was privy to an Antarctica 2028 full circumnavigation cruise, 2 months (I inquired) --lowest cost cabin was 230,000 euros [$370,000 cad] with 25 percent deposit now.... it pre sold most of the cabins on ship within a week [mostly Americans] ... before any public announcement yet to happen or be posted on its web site.

Billionaires aren't going on cruises. This is largely wealth generated and held by the boomers. Let them spend it; better that than passing it down for the economy.

Canada's problem is related to real estate. They pumped the work shortage bull so they could bring in more people and pump real estate value.

Why invest in a start up, company or anything productive when you can be a landlord and have 25 people packed into a single house?

This ties into the Tim Hortons TFW crap we seen coming up several times

[MiamiSPX]

I think the problem with both the Leafs and Raps is that there isn't a single player on either team that would cause a fan uproar if they were traded. TFC is also now a complete joke of a franchise. At this point nobody would care if Matthews was traded (nor would he IMO), and half the fanbase hates Scottie. Whereas Vladdy just bought himself a few years' worth of goodwill.

As with every sport in the world, winning cures everything. Problem is neither team will contend in their current form.

[Anticon]

Honestly surprised it isn't worse. And shows the resilience of the Toronto market (and the lack of competing entertainment options).

Prices are baffling at this point. I paid $60 for a popcorn and two drinks.

[MoneyBall]

I paid just under 200 bucks per seat for the Hawks game in January. It's a Christmas gift for my son but I just hope they show up and play like they give a crap.

This is kind of a side issue, but why is the live feed always so bad? Everytime I stream it instead using the satellite it looks awful. I read up about it and something about video compression and bitrate. I wonder if these big streaming companies will come in take over live sports because whatever Bell and Rogers is offering right now is just not good.

[Tacoma]

The canadian economy in general is dog sh*t and youre seeing discretionary spending decline

It's not just the Canadian economy. Everything is expensive everywhere.

Billionaires are hoarding wealth as the middle class is destroyed.

Agreed and here's a bit of context: Elon Musk's net worth currently sits at $680 billion. There are around 8 billion people in this world. If Elon were to give each person $1 billion, he'd still have $672 billion or 98.8% of his wealth that remains. That's sick.

Of course I'm ignoring the inflationary aspect of this but it goes to show the enormous wealth & power of the ultra-rich and the gap between the rich and the poor is growing exponentially the world over.

[Jeremy Lin 7]

Welcome to late stage capitalism

Rent, Groceries, Phone Bill, etc. the average household doesn't have money anymore.

[NeoDragonKnight]

I haven't been to a game since 2019, priced out of a crappy product on the court. They also don't even do bobblehead nights anymore which I use to enjoy getting and even reselling to lower my ticket cost.

[SFour]

There's a limit to how much you can milk people....they were raising prices even during tanking/losing seasons.

Now the crowds are dead, home court advantage doesn't exist anymore. Opposing teams feel comfortable coming into SBA now.

[dagger]

Literally mentioned this in another thread... apathy for the Leafs/Raptors is extremely high and people just dont have enough money to be splurging to watch very mid teams.

Seeing the Jays go on their run and then comparing to where the Leafs/Raptors are and where many think theyre going doesnt leave room for much optimism. Especially when you consider the cheap prices people were paying for the Jays (non reseller tix) and what MLSE is charging to watch 2 non contending teams.

I think the Jays are both a psychological factor - the winter teams look and feel lame by comparison - and a financial factor. A massive amount of the GTA's disposable income for sports/entertainment went into the Jays, selling out every regular season game from August onward, and then maxing out almost every playoff series. Some people are spending a fortune on World Cup tickets as well, and then general economic conditions are making a lot of people cautious in their spending. I also lost some ticket sales for the Raptors because of the Ontario college support workers strike, a couple of my usual buyers lost a month's wages. All of these things add up.

[xAIRNESSx]

The canadian economy in general is dog sh*t and youre seeing discretionary spending decline

Except for the Jays I guess…

What are ticket prices for baseball as compared with NBA OR LEAF TIXS?

Lower bowl tickets are still around $200 for regular season games so it’s not exactly affordable.

[xAIRNESSx]

The canadian economy in general is dog sh*t and youre seeing discretionary spending decline

Except for the Jays I guess…

Way more affordable.

The fact that the leafs are hqving issues is proof positive. Just look at the data the Canadian economy has been stagnant for a while and recent developments has tipped things from bad to worse

They’re only way more affordable if you want to sit in the 500 level. Jays tickets aren’t cheap and it was actually a big boost to the downtown restaurant scene due to the additional discretionary spending once people are downtown.

[TorontoBarneys]

I've wanted to go watch a Raptors game several times but opted not to because of the outrageous prices. I just can't justify like $250 per ticket for halfway decent seats vs. a team that isn't tanking.

[MiamiSPX]

The canadian economy in general is dog sh*t and youre seeing discretionary spending decline

It's not just the Canadian economy. Everything is expensive everywhere.

Billionaires are hoarding wealth as the middle class is destroyed.

Agreed and here's a bit of context: Elon Musk's net worth currently sits at $680 billion. There are around 8 billion people in this world. If Elon were to give each person $1 billion, he'd still have $672 billion or 98.8% of his wealth that remains. That's sick.

Of course I'm ignoring the inflationary aspect of this but it goes to show the enormous wealth & power of the ultra-rich and the gap between the rich and the poor is growing exponentially the world over.

This is a joke, right? Someone on X many months ago said almost the exact same thing and were eviscerated for the obvious incorrect math.

[Kingsway_fan]

I've wanted to go watch a Raptors game several times but opted not to because of the outrageous prices. I just can't justify like $250 per ticket for halfway decent seats vs. a team that isn't tanking.

Even leafs no longer selling out. It will only get worse. Toronto is in recession and even corporations who own many season tickets will find no takers for resale tixs unused ... like the condo market.. its only headed further south ...

[FluLikeSymptoms]

The ground beef for yesterday’s meatloaf cost $22. Don’t need to leave the house to get ripped off on mediocrity.