It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time…Leafs Freebies Help In Grassroots But Hurt In Media Perception

The Toronto Maple Leafs remain one of the crown jewels in North American sports.  Even without a recent Stanley Cup, the franchise, with the Hockey Hall of Fame situated in the same area, in one of the most cosmopolitan cities on earth, still draws a loyal following and with that loyal following comes a premium ticket price.  So the Leafs brand tried a very unique and ricky give-back to its fans on a very large scale.  In exchange for online registration the team gave away all of its tickets to fans who normally could not attend a game, effectively filling the arena with grassroots fans for no cost against the rival Buffalo Sabres.  The problem as with anything free is that redemption value is perceived as low because of the lack of hard dollar spent against the ticket by the consumer.  Now with most freebie ticket giveaways, the team will give out more than capacity with the anticipation of no-shows.  Open practices in the NBA for... ... read more on joefavorito.com