The city of Toronto remains not only the home of the historic Original Six franchise Toronto Maple Leafs, but one of the hottest (if not the hottest) hotbed of hockey in North America and perhaps even the world.
As such, the Maple Leafs are one of the most heavily scrutinized teams in professional sports thanks to the considerable media market that covers nearly every aspect of the team non-stop.
Not only are they the most valuable franchise in the NHL, but the Maple Leafs also enjoyed a sellout streak of 13 straight seasons at Scotiabank Arena (formerly known as the Air Canada Centre). That streak ended in 2015 prior to the arrival of such names like Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner, the latter of whom is no longer a member of the team.
This season, the Maple Leafs are averaging just over 18,000 fans per game, which would be the lowest attendance numbers in the history of the venue not counting the two seasons that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Executives Don’t Appear Concerned With Record-Low Toronto Maple Leafs Home Attendance
Tom McDonald, senior vice-president of ticket sales and service with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, didn’t sound overly concerned with the dip in attendance, instead referring to it as a “blip” and expressing full confidence that the numbers would increase again.
“It’s not something that we’re really, really concerned with,” McDonald said. âWe expect that in the New Year and beyond â and weâve already seen on some of these recent games â that attendance will pick up again.
âItâs just a blip.â
The Maple Leafs had to compete with Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays earlier this season thanks to their historic run to the World Series, which ended in a heartbreaking Game 7 loss in extra innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto.
Last season, the company began a platform known as “Fan Access”, which was designed to give âthe opportunity to access unique benefits such as tickets, VIP experiences, discounts, exclusive content and more.â
âMLSEâs teams are blessed with some of the best fans in the world, and our goal is always to explore every opportunity to bring them closer to the action and create a closer connection to their favorite teams,â president & CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Keith Pelley said.
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The Maple Leafs Have Noticed the Decrease in Fans
This isn’t a phenomenon that is lost on Maple Leafs players, who notice the decease in attendance as well as the noise levels at Scotiabank Arena.
âSometimes itâs more calm. We acknowledge that,â defenceman Simon Benoit told reporters about the issue. âA bit more quieter. But we havenât been great so far. Iâm sure once we start pumping the wins, itâs going to come back for sure.â
âWe feed off emotion,” Benoit continued. “When thereâs emotion in the building, you use that. In the playoffs, itâs so f—ing loud, you feel that.”
It also doesn’t help the average family that Maple Leafs tickets are among the most expensive in professional sports despite having only won two postseason series since 2004, as well as not having claimed the Stanley Cup since 1967.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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