It’s no secret that the atmosphere in Scotiabank Arena has not lived up to the hype of Toronto’s on-ice product for a long time now, and recently even some top Leafs have commented on it.
Matthew Knies after scoring, fans in the background John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Speaking after a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 22nd, captain Auston Matthews shared that the team wanted a bit more energy from their barn, especially following a big fight between enforcer Ryan Reaves and Columbus’ Mathieu Olivier.
“Would’ve liked a little more energy from the crowd after that,” Matthews said post-game. “I thought it was a little quiet tonight, especially after two guys like that go at it. It was a great moment for (Reaves). I thought it gave us some energy on the bench.”
Toronto’s points leader Mitch Marner added his perspective on the crowd, agreeing that they wanted more in that moment.
“I think everyone agreed to be one of the best [fights] that’s happened in a while,” Marner said. “I know we were all really fired up, but I think we just wanted to feel that energy from the crowd. And I think we felt it a little bit, but we just want to keep it going throughout the periods and maybe it just dropped off a little bit.”
While that situation came in a tough loss the Blue Jackets, the team holds a 19-11-0 record at home this season and this narrative still clearly persists in the locker room.
NHL Network analyst Jason Demers contributed to this long-running conversation in a January segment where he went off about the quiet atmosphere in the Leafs’ lower bowl.
“I can’t stand the lower bowl of Toronto, it’s corporate, it’s not loud, there’s no heartbeat there, and this team has been good for years.”
Most fans are familiar with the economics that have created this situation, with the perceptions that the lower bowl is filled with richer fans not bringing the same energy, whether they are season ticket holders or in corporate seats. A re-sale ticket in the 100s for an upcoming Leafs game costs upwards of $300, and often much higher, especially for high stakes matchups. Consider that price across a couple people going together and it’s easy to see it’s fairly unreasonable for many young people or families.
Earlier this year, the NHL announced a long-anticipated salary cap increase, as the figure is set to rise around $25 million over the next three seasons. It came as welcome news for the Leafs, as a big market like Toronto stands to benefit from the additional money to spend. Especially as they look into extending Mitch Marner and John Tavares this summer, and explore other big pieces that are set to become UFAs over the coming years–including GTA native Connor McDavid.
But an increase in spending will need to correspond with an increase in revenue. For a market like Toronto, that will likely be no problem, but it begs the question: does this salary cap increase kill any chance of saving Scotiabank Arena’s quiet atmosphere?
On the one hand, it doesn’t bode well. In accordance with needing higher revenue streams, ticket prices will likely only increase across the board, pricing out even more Torontonians from being able to root for the Leafs in person.
On the other hand, the positive upsides of what Toronto could do with this money can’t be ignored. Say they bring in a huge name like a McDavid and it has a major upside for their on-ice performance. Could the hype become undeniable for even the most tame of in-stadium fans if a championship or two comes to Toronto by way of some new talent?
Right now, it’s hard to say. It’s possible Brendan Shanahan is visited in the night by three ghosts of Leafs season ticket holders past, present, and future in the night and decides to find revenue sources other than ticket sales to accommodate the incoming rising costs, but that seems rather unlikely.
You can probably count on the fact that ticket prices will go up over the next few seasons, but for big stars and a winning culture, it might just be a sacrifice most Leafs fans would make in a heartbeat.
-1740110184-q80.webp "Bills Linked $140 Million Receiver From AFC East")