News Article: Leiweke wants to free up lower level seats for "real" fans

[Kamiccolo]

Didn't see this here.

He says you cant teach people in the lower level to cheer.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/what-we-learned-leiweke-on-leafs-raptors-tfc-and-rob-ford/

Click to read more...

 

[7even]

Make the seats cheaper = problem solved. Why aren't I president?

 

[nsleaf]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013...y-cup-parade-says-rob-ford-is-like-tommy-boy/


'Tommy Boy'

 

[HOCKEYGOON]

I like this guys swagger... let's see what he can do for Toronto sports.

 

[Pookie]

The other issue are the prices on the secondary ticket market which MLSE seems to turn a blind eye to.

Not just them but the NHL through its partnership with Stubhub.

A quick look at prices vs face value shows that ticket scalping laws appear to be overlooked by placing the risk on the seller while those that participate profit from a percentage of all sales made. Even for those without a percentage cut in inflated ticket prices, scalping enables season seat holders to profit from insanely overpriced tickets if they so choose. Sell the games they don't want and use the proceeds to pay down their cost of their seats.

I haven't seen (m)any instances of MLSE acting to shut down known scalpers or season ticket holders that routinely (and publicly) sell their seats above cost.

Even if that were successful, their pricing plan is geared to a corporate audience that benefits from tax breaks. I took my son to the Leafs/Penguins game in the lower bowl. The face value on those seats was $288/ticket. Fortunately, they were gifted through a friend. Even without inflated ticket prices, who is willing/able to drop close to $600 just to get entrance to see a 3 hr "show"? For $600, I can buy night season passes to any ski resort in Ontario and cover the family for the season.

Good luck Tim. I'd love to see how you plan to implement this objective.

 

[LeafsMonster]

So I guess I'll be at the ACC a lot then

 

[Drmckool]

Make the seats cheaper = problem solved. Why aren't I president?

That won't solve the problem, then the suits will just pay less to not watch the game. The key is when corporations don't renew their seats to offer those seats to those individuals on the season ticket wait-list before other corporate interests.

 

[Chandrashekhar Limit]

How about you lower the ticket prices instead of raising them then?

Guy pays a lot of lip service. Lets see if he can put his actions where his mouth is.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Tommy Boy - awesome

 

[Pookie]

How about you lower the ticket prices instead of raising them then?

Guy pays a lot of lip service. Lets see if he can put his actions where his mouth is.

Related, those Leafs/Pens seats that I mentioned in the golds? I have the stubs from the same section from a game that we went to in 2007. Those tickets have gone up over $100/seat (face value) in 6 years.

 

[ConnorTO]

test people in those seats if they're real fans

 

[The Legend]

Thread title is misleading. Not sure where the word "real" (or the quotation marks around it) come from.

 

[BayStreetBullies*]

@ the Tommy Boy comparison

 

[LeafOfBread]

Can this guy s-t-f-u already? Or better yet the media stop reporting on him? This doesn't deserve to be news and I highly doubt Leiweke would go against basic economics just to get 'real fans' into the premium seats.

 

[Noisespektrum]

"We must become the [New York] Yankees of baseball or the [Dallas] Cowboys of football,” Leiweke said.

Comparing the Leafs to Americans. how down right Canadian of him. XD

 

[BayStreetBullies*]

"There's a lot of people, especially at the lower levels, you can't teach them to cheer," Leiweke said. "We have to think about the culture of the Leafs experience."


He didn't actually say he wanted to free up the lower level seats for "real" fans. That would've been a poor choice of words, and creating division amongst the people who attend the games. Misleading thread title.

 

[Yosho]

The other issue are the prices on the secondary ticket market which MLSE seems to turn a blind eye to.

Not just them but the NHL through its partnership with Stubhub.

A quick look at prices vs face value shows that ticket scalping laws appear to be overlooked by placing the risk on the seller while those that participate profit from a percentage of all sales made. Even for those without a percentage cut in inflated ticket prices, scalping enables season seat holders to profit from insanely overpriced tickets if they so choose. Sell the games they don't want and use the proceeds to pay down their cost of their seats.

I haven't seen (m)any instances of MLSE acting to shut down known scalpers or season ticket holders that routinely (and publicly) sell their seats above cost.

Even if that were successful, their pricing plan is geared to a corporate audience that benefits from tax breaks. I took my son to the Leafs/Penguins game in the lower bowl. The face value on those seats was $288/ticket. Fortunately, they were gifted through a friend. Even without inflated ticket prices, who is willing/able to drop close to $600 just to get entrance to see a 3 hr "show"? For $600, I can buy night season passes to any ski resort in Ontario and cover the family for the season.

Good luck Tim. I'd love to see how you plan to implement this objective.

This is a major problem with the entire North American entertainment industry... it's not just an MLSE/NHL issue.

 

[TML 13]

Can this guy s-t-f-u already? Or better yet the media stop reporting on him? This doesn't deserve to be news and I highly doubt Leiweke would go against basic economics just to get 'real fans' into the premium seats.

I agree this is non newsworthy, but why should Leiweke have to shut up? He's one of the best executives in sports, I'm sure he can back up his big talk.

 

[TootooTrain]

"There's a lot of people, especially at the lower levels, you can't teach them to cheer," Leiweke said. "We have to think about the culture of the Leafs experience."


He didn't actually say he wanted to free up the lower level seats for "real" fans. That would've been a poor choice of words, and creating division amongst the people who attend the games. Misleading thread title.

That quote sounds alot more logical.

Make the seats cheaper = problem solved. Why aren't I president?

The same people will buy them, they'll just pay less.

 

[Penalty Kill Icing*]

Leafs have large enough fanbase within Toronto that they could sell those tickets behind the benches even as individual tickets for the game.

Ideally, you want something like: If a firm wants to renew platinums, offer them gondolas or suites instead (I know they are limited). If they want to transfer membership to individual name (instead of firm),they can retain it. So, the load of paying from own bank account, instead of a firm's accountsheet will force people to transfer season license. Even if someone ends up cancelling platinums, there will be real fans who would like to buy them as individuals.

Providing financial support is not the only thing as a fan. You want to support the team by cheering once you are in the arena. So many times we have heard of fans being asked to shutup while cheering for Leafs in the lower bowl.

/rant

 

[Leafidelity]

Allow less season tickets in the lower bowl. Problem solved.

 

[napoleon in rags]

Make the seats cheaper = problem solved. Why aren't I president?

For exactly that reason.

 

[Phaneuffan3]

That won't solve the problem, then the suits will just pay less to not watch the game. The key is when corporations don't renew their seats to offer those seats to those individuals on the season ticket wait-list before other corporate interests.

Bingo. I agree with this statement

 

[Pookie]

Leafs have large enough fanbase within Toronto that they could sell those tickets behind the benches even as individual tickets for the game.

Ideally, you want something like: If a firm wants to renew platinums, offer them gondolas or suites instead (I know they are limited). If they want to transfer membership to individual name (instead of firm),they can retain it. So, the load of paying from own bank account, instead of a firm's accountsheet will force people to transfer season license. Even if someone ends up cancelling platinums, there will be real fans who would like to buy them as individuals.

Providing financial support is not the only thing as a fan. You want to support the team by cheering once you are in the arena. So many times we have heard of fans being asked to shutup while cheering for Leafs in the lower bowl.

/rant

I agree in theory but the issue gets more complicated when you factor in that the Leafs have sold Personal Seat Licenses which essentially gives the owner the ability to control who they sell their rights to or even if they want to relocate their seats.

 

[egd27]

I agree this is non newsworthy, but why should Leiweke have to shut up? He's one of the best executives in sports, I'm sure he can back up his big talk.

And I'm sure he's just pandering to those that don't (or can't) sit in the Platinum seats.

Wake me up when he decides that it's actually "time to free up more tickets for those fans." I'd be interested to see how he takes on the evil corporations that have been filling the MLSE coffers for decades.