Maple Leafs increase ticket prices to combat scalpers

The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping an increase in ticket prices will actually benefit fans.

Renewals for season tickets began Monday and prices are up between $7-$16 per ticket. The news of the hike is sure to rub fans the wrong way - especially with the club already billed with the most expensive tickets league-wide, according to Ticket I.Q. - but as MLSE chief commercial officer David Hopkinson insists, the hike is to combat scalpers and those selling tickets on the secondary market.

"If we don’t price the tickets appropriately versus what the market is going to pay for them, guess what happens," Hopkinson said, according to Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star. "The tickets don’t get cheaper. Just other guys make the money ... and that doesn’t help your hockey team. That doesn’t help us get better."

Along with the higher prices, the Maple Leafs will also introduce a new membership program in which fans can buy full-season tickets, multi-game packages, and earn rewards.

"There is a significant arbitrage here that we’ve got to try and close," Hopkinson said. "Someone’s going to end up with the money, and we’d rather it’s not a guy in a parka."

Despite the increased prices, Hopkinson feels the team should still see 99.6 percent of season-ticket holders re-up for next season.