![]() Instead, it operates its own version of price arbitrage. New teams would be founded in or relocated to the league's highest-demand market.īut the NHL doesn't work that way. To get a piece of the excess profits being made by the lone top-tier hockey team in Southern Ontario, competitors would move in. And if the NHL were a free market, there would be a response. The high price of NHL hockey tickets in Toronto, relative to much lower prices in places like Phoenix, is sending a very clear signal. In Toronto at least, a lot of money is being scooped up by scalpers. Comparable tickets in Phoenix were going for just $14. Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment would like to capture that extra revenue.Īs of Tuesday afternoon, resold tickets in the upper bowl for Saturday night's Leafs home game were being offered for upwards of $119 (U.S.). MLSE says that upper level season tickets sold at $195 per game are fetching $250 on the resale market, while lower level tickets that retail at $80 can be resold for an average of $141. According to TicketIQ, a blog tracking the secondary market, the Leafs are the most expensive ticket in the NHL, reselling at four times the price of a Coyotes ticket. Even at very high official ticket prices, anyone who snags a seat can turn around and resell it at a profit. ![]() The Maple Leafs' "problem" is the polar opposite. But they've since become less generous, causing league Commissioner Gary Bettman to last week ask the state of Arizona to gift the Coyotes another new, taxpayer-financed arena – in a different part of Phoenix. They built the team a new arena just 13 years ago, and threw taxpayer money at it for years. The Coyotes' other mark are the easily-duped burghers of the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. ![]() A chunk of the big profits that pro hockey generates up north are shipped south as part of the league's revenue-sharing system. To remain in Arizona, the franchise needs somebody other than its own paying fans to bridge the gap. The team has among the league's lowest ticket sales, at among the lowest ticket prices. The Coyotes' problem, since they moved from Winnipeg to the desert two decades ago, is that they can't sell enough tickets, at high enough prices, to cover their costs. But because they're in Phoenix, where the demand isn't – and not in Toronto, Mississauga or Hamilton, where the demand is – the Maple Leafs are hugely profitable. The Coyotes are unprofitable because they're in Phoenix. (Just ask Jim Balsillie.)Īs a result, the Coyotes and the Leafs, the basket case and the money machine, have a symbiotic relationship. New teams can't be created without the NHL's approval, and existing teams can't just pick up and move from cities with low demand, like Phoenix, into areas with ridiculoulsy high demand, like Southern Ontario. North American professional sports is not a free market. It's just the free market at work, right?īut look a bit closer. After all, this is hockey we're talking about, so you'd expect the Canadian team to have a healthier bottom line than the one from the American desert. At first glance, the relative finanical success of these two businesses at opposite ends of the continent seems only natural. The Coyotes are an endless gusher of red ink, while the Leafs are hugely profitable, and poised to become more so. Supply greatly exceeds demand, and the franchise's expenses consequently greatly outstrip revenue. The reason? In Phoenix, hockey tickets are not exactly a highly sought after commodity. Meanwhile, the Arizona Coyotes earlier this month announced that, unless taxpayers cough up a big subsidy, in the form of a couple of hundred million bucks for a new arena, they'll leave the state. The reason? Demand for Leafs seats greatly exceeds supply. The Toronto Maple Leafs have long had among the most expensive tickets in the National Hockey League, and this week the team announced it is once again raising prices.
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