Freezing Out the Hockey Fans in Toronto
From the mailbag:
I watched the Toronto-Montreal game Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada, and there were an awful lot of empty seats down low in the center, like rows of empty seats. You never see this at the Garden in New York. Yet Toronto is famous for being impossible to get tickets to. Do you know why there were so many empty seats? It just seemed so odd.
Thanks,
Kiva O., Brooklyn, NY
It is an odd sight. The best seats in the house, row upon row, left empty in what is supposed to be hockey's Mecca.
The seats you refer to are in the Platinum section, and mostly belong to corporate clients who can afford to pay over $200 for a ticket and another $10,000 or so for a seat license (which they write off at tax time, allowing Canadian taxpayers to supplement their hob-nobbing).
So where are they? In yesterday’s Toronto Star, Randy Starkman provided a glimpse into how the other half lives:
Though these fans have prime seats from which to watch the live action in the Air Canada centre, they prefer to watch on flat-screen TVs a few steps away in the Platinum Lounge.Some were enjoying pricey bottles of red wine at the well-stocked circular marble bar, while others sat at tables dining on such entrees as risotto Milanese with steamed Nova Scotia lobster or such starters as a caviar staircase sampler, no price listed for either on the menu.
It must be jolly good fun, all this nibbling and slurping and trading stock tips and comparing nip-and-tuck jobs. Because a lot of folks have trouble making it back to the rink. In fact, many find that their appetite for haute cuisine and Pinot Noir outweighs their appetite for hockey, because plenty of those seats remain vacant all night.
The triumph of the corporate class is at least partly responsible for the funereal atmosphere that attends many games in Toronto. "I was surprised at how calm the building is," said new coach Paul Maurice, after his first game behind the Maple Leafs' bench.
Comments
The obvious comparison are the much-complained-of ‘prawn sandwich’ crowd at Man U games.
Maybe Toronto should get “seat fillers” like they do at the Academy awards. When a Star gets up and leaves their seat, there’s a group of people who quickly fill them so the TV cameras won’t show any empty seats. If Toronto does this, at least some fans would get to see the game.
So bad for Leaf fans.. I’ll bet they have come see a game in THE hockey Mecca: Montreal!
Yeah and Leaf fans say the Devils’ arena has empty seats!!!! At least ours aren’t on the damn blue line.
Stupid Leaf fans…
If you watch during middle of period you will notice the seats filled
They are sold!!
It takes that long for the wine and caviar set to get back to their cushioned seating.
The game or 2 i get to see I don’t miss a second once i get to spend $20 on a hot dog and a beer at intermission.
Am I right in thinking that the Leafs are the only major league team in existence controlled by a pension fund?
I read the column just to get to see words like hob-nobbing regain their rightful place in todays writings.
However I like to refer to the late arriving Platinum dwellers as merely knobs.
I was a little pissy until I read the remark from Nigel for the seat fillers. Perfect! I love hockey, and can’t imagine not sitting where a puck can knock you out at any moment! whew! But alot of those hob nobbers are needed for the money they generate, and who cares if they’d rather stay in luxury. *i’d still be where the puck can hit me! But if the lack of butts in the seats changes the atmosphere of the game…yeah, get replacement butts, but keep the rich asses comfy as well!
Hummmm , Montreal is the Hockey Mecca , get your facts straight .
Thanks