Watching the Toronto Maple Leafs play at Scotiabank Arena is one of the most expensive game-day experiences in the NHL, and despite the team generating hundreds of millions in revenue each year, the franchise has somehow found yet another way to monetize fandom. This goes well beyond ticket prices and overpriced beer — the club is offering fan add-on experiences that aren’t exactly cheap, many of which are aimed specifically at kids.
For roughly $38 to more than $956 per person (excluding game tickets), fans can buy small pre-game and post-game experiences through the team’s “Game Day Plus Ups”. For about $63.79 per person, you can sound the goal horn 2.5 hours before puck drop (which is affordable enough, although pretty pricey for vibrating the eardrums of every Leafs fan) or pose for a photo on the bench ($127.58) or on the ice after the final buzzer ($95.68 per person).
If you’ve got deeper pockets, you can opt to get sent to the penalty box during a pre-game warm-up ($637.89 per person) or, according to The Athletic, go all out for a sit-down dinner in the team dressing room ($1,000 per person)!
One of the most interesting options is aimed at kids, though. The “Hoist The Maple Leafs Flag” add-on is an on-ice pre-game role specifically for kids aged 8 to 12, letting them stand “proudly on the ice” as the Leafs take the ice. “With Leafs Nation roaring behind you, this unforgettable moment puts you in the heart of the action – and requires more heart than upper-body strength,” the description states. Still, it’ll set you back about $956.83 per kid.
Forbes valued the Leafs at $4.4 billion, making it the most valuable club in the NHL, so charging nearly a thousand dollars for a child to wave a flag around before puck drop is rubbing some fans the wrong way.
“I understand people want to see the top league, but I for one don’t support this franchise with my wallet. To each their own though,” one Redditor said about the add-ons in a recent thread.
“[N]ot a good long term plan when kids are priced out of being fans. A team needs fans to last,” another Reddit user wrote, while others reminisced about a time when these kinds of fan experiences felt more special.
If you can’t fork out a few hundred dollars for flag-waving, then the simple fist-bump add-on ($38.27) allows Leafs fans (aged 12 and under) to get up close and fist-bump the team as they prepare to take the ice for the third period; unsurprisingly, this option seems to sell out the fastest.
But even with all the fancy add-ons, it’s still debatable whether Leafs fans are getting the best return on their money.
