Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan in a letter that went out this morning to season-ticket holders wrote that the Leafs "will not raise ticket prices for next season," according to Stephen Whyno of the CP. It is the "fifth time in seven years all ticket prices will remain the same across the board, following increases in some areas" of Air Canada Centre for '14-15. The Leafs are "on their way to missing the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons." Shanahan in the letter tells season-ticket holders that the management team and players "will be committed to becoming a contender 'and will not be satisfied with anything less.'" MLSE Chief Commercial Officer Dave Hopkinson said that the season-ticket renewal rate has been more than 99% "in each of the past two years" (CP, 3/3). Hopkinson said that the "goodwill MLSE hopes to engender among frustrated fans outweighs the extra revenue they could have collected by raising prices." But in Toronto, Morgan Campbell writes flat ticket prices "might not seem like a huge favour" given that Leafs' tickets "are the NHL’s most expensive and that the club has made the playoffs just once" since '03-04. TiqIQ data shows that the "average ticket to a Leafs game this season cost $373.50 on the resale market." That figure was the NHL’s "highest and more than $90 more expensive" than tickets for Canucks games, which ranks second (TORONTO STAR, 3/4).
ON-AIR TWITTER GAFFE: The GLOBE & MAIL's James Mirtle reported Leafs D Dion Phaneuf and LW Joffrey Lupul, along with Phaneuf’s wife, actress Elisha Cuthbert, yesterday "threatened a lawsuit against TSN after a salacious tweet from a fan made it to air during the network’s trade deadline coverage." Anthony Adragna, the fan who "sent the message from his Twitter account on Monday morning, will be included in the potential legal action." Vancouver-based firm Gall Legge Grant & Munroe LLP yesterday released a statement, and TSN "issued an apology shortly after." Further "complicating matters" is that TSN’s parent company Bell Media is co-owner of MLSE. Meanwhile, Leafs RW Phil Kessel "ripped the media for what he called their 'embarrassing' treatment of Phaneuf." Kessel "didn’t mention the tweet specifically, but team management said players were very upset with TSN’s mistake" (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/4). In Toronto, Rob Longley noted TSN host James Duthie read a prepared statement on "Sportscentre" yesterday and "again on the pre-game show" prior to the Leafs' game against the Panthers. Duthie read, "In spite of TSN’s protocols to prevent unfounded and inappropriate tweets from making it to air, a false and inappropriate tweet was allowed to run. There was no basis for the allegation made in the tweet.” Duthie "went on to say the network 'unreservedly apologizes' to the three involved." Gall Legge Grant & Munroe partner Peter Gall said that the apology and statement "was a start." Gall: "The apology is great. I will talk to Joffrey, Elisha and Dion further about what more needs to be done to reduce and eliminate the harm that has been suffered by them.” Gall said that his clients "may still seek 'a significant amount' of financial damages from the network" (TORONTO SUN, 3/4).
