“We’re on the bandwagon no matter what”: Leafs fans on what it would take for them to finally stop buying tickets
“We’re on the bandwagon no matter what”: Leafs fans on what it would take for them to finally stop buying tickets
It takes a lot to get Toronto Maple Leafs fans to stop supporting their team, but they may have finally started to give up. Last week, only 18,366 paid ticket-holders showed up at the Air Canada Centre to see the Leafs lose 2–1 to the Minnesota Wild—the smallest crowd in the team’s 16 years at that venue, and one of the only times they hadn’t sold it out. Tickets that would usually be snatched up for premium prices at this time of year were listed for as low as $29 a pair on StubHub for that night’s game. But what would it finally take to get the rest of the Leafs’ loyal fans to stop buying tickets? Before Thursday night’s game against the Florida Panthers (they lost that one, too—4–1), we asked some of them.
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- <strong>Rick Frias, 47<br /> </strong><strong>Kim Frias, 43</strong><br /> <strong>Isaac Frias, 9<br /> </strong><strong>Joshua Frias, 9</strong><br /> <br /> Rick: "We won’t ever stop."<br /> <br /> Kim: "Why are we Leafs fans? You have to say!"<br /> <br /> Rick: "I was conceived the last time they won the Stanley Cup. But don’t tell my mom that I said that. I was born in '68. I grew up in Kingsville, five hours away, but when my dad came over from Portugal he listened to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_Hewitt" target="_blank">Foster Hewitt</a> and that was the end of soccer. I’ve been a fan since before I was born."
- (Image: Giordano Ciampini)
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- <strong>Bob Collins, 55</strong><br /> <br /> "The way they’re playing right now would get me to stop buying tickets. I’m from Paradise, Newfoundland, so I have to come over for a game, which meant buying my ticket months ago. I have no other choice but to go to the game. But if I was living here I wouldn’t go. Maybe the lack of sales will open their eyes. At least I’m hoping so."
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- <strong>Chris Gibbs, 50</strong><br /> <strong>Kim Gibbs, 40-something</strong><br /> <br /> Chris: "I’m a Leafs fan, so I’m not going to quit cheering for them. If I get the opportunity to go to a game, I’m going to go to a game—this is my birthday present."
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- <strong>Robert Lumbardi, 18</strong><br /> <br /> "Even if they go 0 and 82, I’m still going to watch them play. I’m 18 years old, so I've been a fan for 18 years. Being a Canadian, having hockey growing up, and being a hometown boy was all it took for me to get hooked on the Leafs."
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- <strong>Vinay Kapoor, 49</strong><br /> <br /> "Right now to bring a family over here, it’s going to cost you $200 or more, and that’s for the cheapest tickets they’ve got. Hopefully they won’t make it any more expensive—I really don’t know what else could stop me from going to games since I've been a fan all my life."
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- <strong>Brenda Anyon, 54</strong><br /> <br /> "Not much could stop me. I grew up with them. I’ve been a fan all my life. I went into labour with my first child during the second period of a game, and I wouldn't leave until it was over."
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- <strong>Brent Lambert, 36</strong><br /> <br /> "Toronto would have to not have a team for me to stop coming and supporting them. It’s still our team, and every team is entitled to bad years. It’s consistent here—consistently bad—but there’s hope. I have a cousin who may get drafted by them, so that’s my hope, that he changes it or helps."
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- <strong>Douglas Buchanan, 39</strong><br /> <br /> "I was born in Toronto, but I grew up in the UK, and moved back here about 9 years ago. I’ve never been to a game before because the tickets are too expensive. If they were cheaper I’d buy them, but why pay huge money to watch them lose every game? They suck right now."
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- <strong>Micheal McCrae, 41<br /> </strong><strong>Jennifer McCrae, 37</strong><br /> <br /> Jennifer: "I’m still a Leaf fan; it's just that I know my team sucks. It’s what it is. But I’d go even if they weren’t winning anything. That’s how you know you’re a true fan."<br /> <br /> Michael: "I wouldn’t stop. I've been a fan my whole life, from day one. My teachers said in school that if there wasn’t a Leafs game on I would have nothing to write in my journal. "
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- <strong>Danielle Hodgson, 26<br /> </strong><strong>Dan Bialas, 28</strong><br /> <br /> Danielle: "We bought these tickets in December. If we had known what was going to happen we might not have."<br /> <br /> Dan: "But there’s always next year. And the year after, too."<br /> <br /> Danielle: "That’s what we always say. If you’re a Leafs fan, you’re a Leafs fan no matter how they do. You have to take the wins and the losses the same way."<br /> <br /> Dan: "Through thick and thin. One year they’ll be good, and then everyone’s going to jump back on the bandwagon."<br /> <br /> Danielle: "And we’re on the bandwagon no matter what."
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![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/toronto-maple-leafs-fans-tickets/&title=“We’re on the bandwagon no matter what”: Leafs fans on what it would take for them to finally stop buying tickets&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/the-informer-leafs-fans-BrentLambert.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_310954" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Images: Giordano Ciampini)[/caption]
It takes a lot to get Toronto Maple Leafs fans to stop supporting their team, but they may have finally started to give up. Last week, only 18,366 paid ticket-holders showed up at the Air Canada Centre to see the Leafs lose 2–1 to the Minnesota Wild—the smallest crowd in the team's 16 years at that venue, and one of the only times they hadn't sold it out. Tickets that would usually be snatched up for premium prices at this time of year were listed for as low as $29 a pair on StubHub for that night's game. But what would it finally take to get the rest of the Leafs' loyal fans to stop buying tickets? Before Thursday night’s game against the Florida Panthers (they lost that one, too—4–1), we asked some of them.
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