Toronto Maple Leafs' Year-End Game Tickets Spark Outrage Among Fans

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Tyler Ball
December 25, 2023 (8:53 PM)

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The price of tickets for a Toronto Maple Leafs game has always been a hot topic. This was sparked again when the Maple Leafs played a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Maple Leafs Road Experience Cheaper For Fans Than A Home Game

Recently there has been an uptick of Maple Leafs fans at road games. In back to back games the Maple Leafs have had a good crowd presence in Buffalo and Columbus. Now Maple Leafs fans heading up to Buffalo is nothing new however a trip to Columbus should in theory be more expensive than buying tickets to Scotiabank Arena.

A new experiment put together by individuals over at Fansided discovered this was not the case. After looking at resale tickets for the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets game, the average gas price to get there and back, as well as a hotel a trip to Columbus is comparable or cheaper than a game in Toronto.

Santa, Mrs. Claus and one of the Clauslings instead made the six hour drive to Columbus, Ohio to watch the Leafs take on the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena last night. Tuning the laptop back into the website of the unnamed ticket pirates, we see that we can sit in decent upper bowl seats for under $50 (US). Alternatively, there are pockets of seats in the lower bowl available for under $90 (US).
For the price of three Scotiabank Arena nosebleed seats, Santa's family will see a game from seats about 15 rows up from the ice, pay for gas, a nice hotel room, a couple of good restaurants, and perhaps sample some local ales.

This is an eye-opening and quite shocking realization that a Maple Leafs fan could travel over 6 hours to a game cheaper than a game in their hometown.

Maple Leafs Need To Explore New Pricing Options

The Maple Leafs have consistently had one of the highest ticket prices in the NHL each year. They do continue to fill the building but often a large section of the fanbase is priced out of the true Toronto Maple Leafs game experience.

If the Maple Leafs want to continue growing their fanbase a restructuring of their ticket pricing might be needed. It does help that a division rival like Buffalo is close by. However, admission to a hockey game should be affordable to all levels of fans.

Even if it is just a few sections of nosebleeds the organization needs to be more receptive of the financial burden they are placing on fans and their families.