ABOVE: MLSE exec David Hopkinson discusses the Raps’ postseason buzz on the Morning Show
If a silver lining can be found to the Maple Leafs missing the playoffs yet again this spring, it’s that the woeful hockey club’s fans won’t be subjected to league-leading prices for a postseason ticket.
No, that honour belongs to the only Toronto team headed to the postseason this year, the Raptors.
According to Forbes, owner Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the Leafs, is charging the highest premium for playoff tickets in the National Basketball Association – 242.5 per cent over regular season ticket prices.
That premium means the average ticket price is a whopping $370 for a Game 1 ticket — again, making a trip into the Air Canada Centre the most expensive among all clubs in the association this spring.
“The Raptors not only have the highest premium of any team in the playoffs, but also the highest ticket price,” Forbes says.
“The games are popular so they’re going to sell out,” David Hopkinson, chief commercial officer for MLSE, told Global’s The Morning Show on Thursday.
Demand is certainly there – season-seat holders and other first-in-line buyers have locked up most of the 19,800 tickets available for each of the first games, which will see the No.3 seed Raptors hold home court advantage over the No.6 seeded Brooklyn Nets.
READ MORE: Did the Nets throw games to get match-up with Raptors?
Hopkinson noted that about half the Air Canada Centre is occupied by season-seat holders, who had first dibs on tickets.
As of mid-week, there were 2,261 tickets remaining on the secondary market, or the third fewest of any of the 16 teams headed to the 2014 NBA playoffs. The Forbes story relies on TiqIQ.com information, a U.S.-based ticket search engine.
As part of the postseason buzz building, MLSE is busy promoting a new ad campaign which features a one-minute TV spot and the slogan “We the north.”
“It’s really about celebrating what makes this market place special,” Hopkinson said.
WATCH: The Toronto Raptors have unveiled a new ad campaign titled “We the North” to hype up fans in anticipation of the club’s playoff run
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