Anyone letting MLSE know that raising our ticket prices ain't right. We've supported this team enough and have not had much on field reward to repay us. I hope so!
I got faith in them! After reading some articles in the SUN and Star this morning it sounds like a few are taking a stand. We (the fans) are the backbone of this team. And the U-Sector and RPB is our voice. I hope that they will lead us in taking a stand to this. Yes, it is only a small increase in $$$ for some but I’m sure we will all agree that If we accept any increase now (no matter how much) it will lead to a continuous increase year after year. I’m also not interested in the notion that last years tickets were sold at a discount, thus the difference to the new prices. I’m also interested to see how are supporter’s groups will respond for other reasons as well. From my understanding MLSE has included our supporter’s group in certain discussions back in the beginning. I hope that all supporters groups keep their balls and are not influenced in any way by any conversations, meetings, friendships or feelings of awe towards/with anyone in MLSE. This league runs on a Cap system. Smart personal decisions are needed to make the on-field product better. Not more revenue. MLSE has no right to ask us for anything else after the support and love we have shown this team through the many hard times we endured this season. I’m not sure if we need protests, petitions, songs or chants. But I hope our supporters groups lead us into this and every other battle, of what we all now will be a continuous war fought against MLSE. We all new this was coming folks when we heard it was MLSE starting up the team. Now how are we going to deal with it?
Although I am happy with your passion in this thread, I don't seem to understand it. All season long I have kept reading threads like "We want natural grass" ($$$), "Expand the stadium" ($$$), "Sign this person or that person" ($$$). All of these demands take large sums of cash. As for the comment about the hard ships endured, memo to you, this is a new team. It could take years for the right mix of players to be brought in. Some of the people in the supports sec. paid $200.00 for their entire year. Where else are you going to get that type of entertainment value at such a low price? Enjoy the fact that we finally have a pro team in this city worth cheering for! Keep up the great work at being the best supporters in the league. Cheers
protesting and resisting already? no. wait until there's a completely uncalled for increase to prices. we were lucky to have the "testing" phase for prices to determine demand for the product. complaining too early will only make our voice sound smaller.
Ouch, people already accepting and finding reasons to justify raising the rates. That's exactly what MLSE want's to hear. Little by little it goes up and then next thing u know u have trouble justifying paying the high prices for them
Yeah I think u got a point how things cost money but I ask u what is it that MLSE is spending this extra revenue on? I don't mind them raising prices a bit if it means we get natural grace in there as u suggest...fact is there raising prices....and there's no natural grass coming. I don't mind them raising ticket prices if it means them expanding the stadium as u suggest....fact is there raising ticket prices...and there will probably expand to benefit their bank account on the long run and for no other reason. Yes, some people paid $200 for season tickets and good on them for jumping on that before anyone else. But the rest of the 80% of us did not. I'm starting to think that maybe people thought that i started this thread to say "why aren't the supports group doing anything", the real question is "are they"? Sorry If i worded it wrong folks....think that next passionate reply didn't help in clearing the actual question either.
There are a number of factors here. I think I'll wait to pick my battles though. Sure, 13% sounds big, but at the moment, I'm not going to cry over a $26 increase to my season ticket package ($56 if you include the All-Star game). People need a dose of reality I think. This is a classic case of supply and demand. As long as the stadium is packed, there will be increases. In the end, the fans are our own worst enemy. We have supported this team so well that we basically forced the ticket prices to increase. Plus, if people are willing to pay $100 for south end tickets to scalpers, what's the big deal about paying $14 to MLSE? Sure, if in 5 years, I have to pay $50/game for my tickets in 113, I'll complain about it. But for the time being, a TFC season ticket is a great value, even with the increase. Can't wait to hear from the rest of the people with the MLSE chip on their shoulder.
Why should the supporter's groups do anything? This really isn't that big a deal. If anything, this was to be expected. Only people living in some Utopian Communist dreamworld didn't see this coming.
Please don't take this as justifying the rate increase.... but has anyone here ever taken a busines course or run their own business? A few people seem to get the concept but wow... some of you are either naive or in dreamland when it comes to professional sports. MLSE like anyone else are in the business of running a sports franchise. And a business is providing a product that meets the customers needs and in turn creates a profit. Don't kid yourselves - sports is a business. They are pumping big money into the ACC to improve the ice surface and fan comfort. They have plans to spend money expanding BMO Field but these things take time and have to be passed by the board. To do that you have to have a business case. The case is supported by profit or the ability to turn a profit. If you don't like the increase - simple. Don't buy the tickets. They'll get the message. If you are not happy with the product - Don't buy it. Don't watch on TV. To renew your subscription and then bitch about the price is the dumbest thing you can do. My friends and I will be happy to take your tickets. We are willing to give MLSE the benefit of doubt here and enjoy having a football club in Toronto. We are 1 season in and people are already freaking out over not winning the whole thing, a minor price increase, not having real turf, not expanding the stadium, etc...
I don't really check the RPB board, but on the U-Sector board, I've seen barely any complaints about the increase. There doesn't seem to be a groundswell of support for a campaign that you are suggesting. Which leads me to believe that most supporter's see the increase as a fact of life. Most of the whining/complaining I've seen has been on this board. alphamale111 has already made a bunch of good suggestions on what to do if you don't like the way MLSE is running the team. I have my own suggestion. If you can't afford the increase, buy the season tickets anyway, and sell off 1 or 2 games. Most people can't attend every game anyway. I went on vacation during the Beckham game. I could have sold those tickets off and paid for next season. Instead I gave the tickets to my sisters.
Why are you blaming MLSE for this? Teams of all sports raise their prices. All prices rise, especially under these circumstances. If you have such a problem with it, consider this year as the "real" price level, and you got season one for a discounted sale price. Paying $20 to sit only a few rows away from the field is incredible, no matter what the price increase was. The price for a seat in the very last row of Camp Nou in Barcelona is 50 euros. That is $70 CDN...for the absolute worst seat in that stadium! A little more local, the sparsely populated stadium in Kansas City charges $16 for it's cheapest seats....and nobody even goes to those games! Do your research about price increases instead of just demanding answers. It is not only MLSE that raises their prices.
You don't like the price increase? Don't buy a ticket. Lead by example instead of calling on other support clubs to do your dirty work. You know just as well as everyone else, as soon as you give up your seat, there are thousands waiting and willing to pay a very reasonable price for the ticket you had. If you are complaining about the price, but not giving up your seat, then you are apparently "bending over" for MLSE just like you claim the rest of us are.
Testing phase? Toronto FC ticket prices were in line with every other team in MLS. In a salary capped, single entity league, there is NO JUSTIFICATION FOR PRICES BEING OUT OF LINE WITH EVERY OTHER TEAM. If the league were not a salary capped, single entity league, than MLSE would have every right to charge whatever the market will bear. I am on the waiting list for tickets in the supporters section as even before the price increases I wouldnt be able to afford season tickets anywhere else. The waiting list numbers are very misleading. They dont say what sections people are on the waiting list for. I'll bet at least half of the 5,000+ people on the waiting list are on the list for Supporters Section seats only. I'm practically starting to hope for failure from this franchise. Toronto sports fans have proven time and time again that they will support two things. A winner; and the Maple Leafs. If Toronto FC is neither of those things for much longer, the cash cow MLSE seems to think they have in TFC will dry up sooner than they think; and Major League Soccer will be left to explain why their 'ideal model for expansion' turned sour so quickly.
Are you sure about that? From what I've managed to gather, Toronto FC tickets, even after the increase, are still lower than most of the teams in the MLS. When you factor in the exchange rate (sure I realize its close now), Toronto FC has some of the cheapest tickets in the league. But feel free to continue with your ill-informed anti-MLSE rants. Why are you even a fan of this team then? Its sounds to me like you are more interested in the buzz than the actual team. We don't need fairweather fans like you. If you don't like the way MLSE runs their soccer business, then stop supporting it. By supporting TFC, you are giving MLSE your tacit approval of their practices, which you stop at no end to bash. You can't have it both ways.
Please answer the following factually, not morally or ethically, completely factual: Does MLS have rules/regulations that state the all teams must price relatively the same? Do they have to price between minimum X and maximum Y, or are they free to charge what they want? If the answer is that there's no rules on what a team can charge for a ticket, hot dog, or rainjacket, I don't see what salary cap has to do with anything. MLSE has a lot of projects. Some make money, some lose money, but TFC is just another branch in which they try to make money. Now, with no rule in place about what they can charge, wouldn't they look at their own situation, and say "we have 5 seats, but 15 people want them. let's raise the price until 5 people can afford them"? Equation is balanced. As far as business is concerned...that seems pretty justified. If there are rules stating that a team can only increase by X amount, or has to fall into Y range, then yes MLSE are out of line. Otherwise, not so much.
Here are some of the season seat prices from other MLS teams: Chicago Fire Colorado Rapids FC Dallas LA Galaxy: Fieldside $3180 ($159/game) Sideline $960 ($48/game) Corner $730 ($36.60/game) 200C $620 ($31/game) Endline and Supporters Section $530 ($26.50/game) GA $410 ($20.50/game)
BMO $1520 $1159 $855 $532 $302 $285 DSG $558 $468 $306 $216 Rice Eccles $595 $485 $360 $255 Crew Stadium $510 $289 $255 $204 Robertson Stadium $1250 $720 $600 $425 $400 $350 $330 $300 PHP $1500 $740 $580 $440 $360 $260 Chivas $1296 $630 $504 $450 $360 $252 $180 Some of the cheapest tickets in the league is a pretty big stretch. And when amount of seats at which price level are factored in (seats equitable to BMO's dark greys are much cheaper at almost every other park), im certain Toronto will come out right near the top. Because I love soccer. I follow all of Europe very closely. A hell of a lot more closely than I follow MLS. Wow. You just cant buy that kind of support. Anybody who takes issue with MLSE's business practices is obviously some fairweather fan who has 'bought into the hype' of the franchise? I also support the Maple Leafs to no end. See I guess I have a pretty big problem in that I grew up playing hockey and soccer and have an undying love for both sports. Unfortunately, at the professional club level, one organization controls the two sports I love. Im ecstatic to see a top level club team in my home city and it pains me to see MLSE taking advantage of the market in the exact same vein they have for years with the Maple Leafs. Thats why, as big a Maple Leaf fan as I am, I am desperate to see southern Ontario get a second NHL team. I cant say I would support them over the Leafs, but I would attend their games, and their mere presence would have a leveling effect on NHL ticket prices in the area. The reason I bring up the salary cap, single entity system so often is that, were this a totally free market, European style system, where if you've got the money and the support you can simply create a club, I would be perfectly fine with MLSE doing anything they wanted with their sports franchises. However the structure of North American sports permits MLSE to operate in pretty well a monopolistic manner. There will never be an 'FC of Toronto' (ala FC United of Manchester) that could develop out of protest to the clubs owners. North American sports doesnt allow that. In not so many words. I support MLSE's clubs because I haven't got any other option. Ummmmmm..................yes? Obviously I know this. I realize we are arguing but dont assume i'm a moron. MLSE has every right in the world to charge whatever the market will bear. After one season of box-offce success though, I really think they are jumping the gun on price increases. Tickets are in demand because of the atmosphere at the stadium. Not because of the product on the pitch. If BMO Field prices all of it's supporters out of stadium and as you suggest, 'raise prices till only X people can afford' dont be surprised when those X people decide not to come back because the game ended in a scoreless draw and the supporters section has scaled back to a couple rows of loudmouthed old men. IMO this is an ill advised business move by MLSE that will serve to hurt them in the long run. Theyre obviously free to run their business venture however they see fit. I just dont think it is the best strategy. Boy you two love your free market capitalism though. I guess im just a bleeding heart romantic, but I think MLSE owes something to the fans who have turned their uncertain gamble into a rousing success.
If you want to be taken seriously, don't make your numbers up. My seats will cost me $226 next year (not including the service charge). So where is this $285 number coming from? Or did you leave out the supporter seats to try to make your point look better than it is? You should also convert the TFC prices to US$ or vice versa, to give a fair comparison. The good thing is that your post proves my point. TFC prices aren't much different than the rest of the league. Further proof that your whining is uncalled for. But keep it up.
That's interesting. I like how TFC is rewarding the initial people that took the chance on the team. Mind you, that will probably upset you. But that's not my problem. Plus I'm predicting a 95-99% renewal rate anyway, so TFC won't be selling many tickets for the new prices.
er... this team is a business. As with any football club worldwide, higher ticket prices means they can attract better players, improving the on-field product -- which, you guessed it, will mean a further increase.