The possibility of PSL fees for Maple Leaf season-ticket
holders and where the team will move its fans from the best
seats in Maple Leafs Gardens "should become apparent as early
as May 1," according to Doug Smith of the TORONTO STAR. MLG
President & CEO Richard Peddie and his staff are "strongly
considering asking all hockey season-ticket holders to pay a
one-time fee for the right" to buy their tickets. Raptors
season-ticket holders face PSL fees, with 2,000 being sold at
a top price of "more than" $10,000. The STAR's Smith added
that some of the best seats at the Air Canada Centre "will be
part of the costly luxury rinkside boxes" (TORONTO STAR,
3/28). In Toronto, Steve Simmons wrote that the "mere
suggestion" of PSLs for the Leafs "borders on hockey
obscenity. ... This is another Toronto tradition being
trampled upon in the name of commerce" (TORONTO SUN, 3/29).
LOOKING FOR RICHARD: Peddie was profiled by Rosie
DiManno in Sunday's TORONTO STAR. Peddie: "I believe that
the Leafs will generate more profits than the Raptors." But
he said the Leafs aren't as strong in the teen demo as the
Raptors, adding, "So, even if they're strong, they can always
be stronger." Two of Peddie's "13 urgent tasks," include
"settling the matter of seat licenses and negotiating hockey
broadcast rights for next season" (TORONTO STAR, 3/29).
RAPTORS APPROVED: The sale of the Raptors to MLG was
unanimously approved on Friday by the NBA Board of Governors.
In Toronto, Mary Ormsby wrote that "two of the worst teams in
all of pro sports have joined forces, a merging of mediocrity
for which Toronto's mega-citizens will now pay top dollar to
support." Ormsby called NBA approval "a niggling detail in
the grandiose of the hoops-and-hockey empire to pursue its
foremost goal. To make money" (TORONTO STAR, 3/28).