The Maple Leafs home opener was this past Monday and MLSE said "This game is on us". They gave away 1,000 free tickets to those die hard fans that really wanted them. They told their season ticket holders that the first game would be free. Now, I was expecting the place to be BOOMING all game. Loud on rushes, chants of Go Leafs Go, noise, anything. But I got the opposite, it was quiet, dead, and the atmosphere seemed to be missing. Granted, I watched it from home on TV, so maybe it was worse than it was. But when you watched the Habs home opener this past weekend, that place was CRAZY.
Now, a couple of reasons why the place wasn't crazy are the following:
1) Season ticket holders are all corporate.
2) Leafs had not put a team on the ice worth cheering for.
3) Leafs did not give them a reason to cheer until the last couple of minutes.
So what realistic ideas do you have that can change this around? And I say realistic because, taking away the season ticket holders tickets and giving them to fans that care is not realistic from a business point of view.
Should they do more shirt tosses? Better in between game segments? Better Music? Cheaper Beer on weeknight games? Better Promotional Days?
Another idea is to take over one section of the arena at a time. You have to figure this isn't going to happen overnight. Lets say make section 120, the "loud" section, much like the TFC Supporter section. Always standing, always cheering on rushes, chanting "Defence", heckling the opposing goaltender, etc. Hopefully that will translate into sections 121 and 119 getting loud throughout the game too.
I am sick and tired of hearing how excited players like John Tavares, Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos all have family visiting them and watching. Lets turn this arena back into our building. Where the noise is deafening and where the Leafs want to score to hear their fans go CRAZY. Lets be the 7th man on the ice for them. Lets be a city where free agents or top talent will want to come to because we SUPPORT our team instead of analyzing every little mistake that they do.
I really want to get this place on the same noise level as Winnipeg, Montreal, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver.
I honestly have no idea what you're talking about to be honest.... The habs crowd was dead until the last 10 minutes of the game...I thought the crowd was pretty damn good
Give fans a winning team, and the fans will get behind it.
Right now fans are skeptical about getting behind a team that has let everyone down so many times the past decade (or more). There was a massive "here we go again" feel about the Sabres game.
Win and the fans will cheer.
Cart before horse - win and the fans will cheer, not the other way around.
The Maple Leafs home opener was this past Monday and MLSE said "This game is on us". They gave away 1,000 free tickets to those die hard fans that really wanted them. They told their season ticket holders that the first game would be free. Now, I was expecting the place to be BOOMING all game. Loud on rushes, chants of Go Leafs Go, noise, anything. But I got the opposite, it was quiet, dead, and the atmosphere seemed to be missing. Granted, I watched it from home on TV, so maybe it was worse than it was. But when you watched the Habs home opener this past weekend, that place was CRAZY.
Now, a couple of reasons why the place wasn't crazy are the following:
1) Season ticket holders are all corporate.
2) Leafs had not put a team on the ice worth cheering for.
3) Leafs did not give them a reason to cheer until the last couple of minutes.
So what realistic ideas do you have that can change this around? And I say realistic because, taking away the season ticket holders tickets and giving them to fans that care is not realistic from a business point of view.
Should they do more shirt tosses? Better in between game segments? Better Music? Cheaper Beer on weeknight games? Better Promotional Days?
Another idea is to take over one section of the arena at a time. You have to figure this isn't going to happen overnight. Lets say make section 120, the "loud" section, much like the TFC Supporter section. Always standing, always cheering on rushes, chanting "Defence", heckling the opposing goaltender, etc. Hopefully that will translate into sections 121 and 119 getting loud throughout the game too.
I am sick and tired of hearing how excited players like John Tavares, Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos all have family visiting them and watching. Lets turn this arena back into our building. Where the noise is deafening and where the Leafs want to score to hear their fans go CRAZY. Lets be the 7th man on the ice for them. Lets be a city where free agents or top talent will want to come to because we SUPPORT our team instead of analyzing every little mistake that they do.
I really want to get this place on the same noise level as Winnipeg, Montreal, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver.
Thoughts/Suggestions?
Being an avid soccer fan, I would love to hear our fans all game. Soccer fans in Europe NEVER shut up. They're always loud, always chanting, always going crazy. It really affects the way road teams play. If the crowd can get in the heads of the opposition, the home team has a distinct advantage.
I would love to see it happen in Toronto, but I don't see it any time soon.
Being an avid soccer fan, I would love to hear our fans all game. Soccer fans in Europe NEVER shut up. They're always loud, always chanting, always going crazy. It really affects the way road teams play. If the crowd can get in the heads of the opposition, the home team has a distinct advantage.
I would love to see it happen in Toronto, but I don't see it any time soon.
Watch a big match at Old Trafford, or a European Champions League at Old Trafford.
Or go back and check footage of Anfield home games back when they were a decent team.
Opposition teams were beaten before they even stepped onto the pitch.
Go watch last Sunday's 1-1 draw between United and Tottenham. The only reason Tottenham got a draw from that game, is because the fans carried them to the finish line and literally willed the equalizer into the net with the last kick of the game.
Finally - look at the Winnipeg Jets and compare their home record with their away record. Huge difference.
I don't buy the corporate criticism thing. I've been to plenty of games, especially before the lockouts, where the suits at the front of the platinums were just into the game as the rest of us.
The Maple Leafs home opener was this past Monday and MLSE said "This game is on us". They gave away 1,000 free tickets to those die hard fans that really wanted them. They told their season ticket holders that the first game would be free. Now, I was expecting the place to be BOOMING all game. Loud on rushes, chants of Go Leafs Go, noise, anything. But I got the opposite, it was quiet, dead, and the atmosphere seemed to be missing. Granted, I watched it from home on TV, so maybe it was worse than it was. But when you watched the Habs home opener this past weekend, that place was CRAZY.
Now, a couple of reasons why the place wasn't crazy are the following:
1) Season ticket holders are all corporate.
2) Leafs had not put a team on the ice worth cheering for.
3) Leafs did not give them a reason to cheer until the last couple of minutes.
So what realistic ideas do you have that can change this around? And I say realistic because, taking away the season ticket holders tickets and giving them to fans that care is not realistic from a business point of view.
Should they do more shirt tosses? Better in between game segments? Better Music? Cheaper Beer on weeknight games? Better Promotional Days?
Another idea is to take over one section of the arena at a time. You have to figure this isn't going to happen overnight. Lets say make section 120, the "loud" section, much like the TFC Supporter section. Always standing, always cheering on rushes, chanting "Defence", heckling the opposing goaltender, etc. Hopefully that will translate into sections 121 and 119 getting loud throughout the game too.
I am sick and tired of hearing how excited players like John Tavares, Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos all have family visiting them and watching. Lets turn this arena back into our building. Where the noise is deafening and where the Leafs want to score to hear their fans go CRAZY. Lets be the 7th man on the ice for them. Lets be a city where free agents or top talent will want to come to because we SUPPORT our team instead of analyzing every little mistake that they do.
I really want to get this place on the same noise level as Winnipeg, Montreal, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver.
Thoughts/Suggestions?
Unleash the dragons.
Seriously, with all the suits, there's little you can do. CEOs and the like aren't going to be jumping up and screaming. It's a corporate environment.
Seriously though, there should be a fine for wearing a suit to a hockey game.
Seriously....because the suits are very serious when it comes to their hockey.
Last edited by birddog*: 01-24-2013 at 01:56 PM.
Reason: had to add another seriously
The Maple Leafs home opener was this past Monday and MLSE said "This game is on us". They gave away 1,000 free tickets to those die hard fans that really wanted them. They told their season ticket holders that the first game would be free. Now, I was expecting the place to be BOOMING all game. Loud on rushes, chants of Go Leafs Go, noise, anything. But I got the opposite, it was quiet, dead, and the atmosphere seemed to be missing. Granted, I watched it from home on TV, so maybe it was worse than it was. But when you watched the Habs home opener this past weekend, that place was CRAZY.
Now, a couple of reasons why the place wasn't crazy are the following:
1) Season ticket holders are all corporate.
2) Leafs had not put a team on the ice worth cheering for.
3) Leafs did not give them a reason to cheer until the last couple of minutes.
So what realistic ideas do you have that can change this around? And I say realistic because, taking away the season ticket holders tickets and giving them to fans that care is not realistic from a business point of view.
Should they do more shirt tosses? Better in between game segments? Better Music? Cheaper Beer on weeknight games? Better Promotional Days?
Another idea is to take over one section of the arena at a time. You have to figure this isn't going to happen overnight. Lets say make section 120, the "loud" section, much like the TFC Supporter section. Always standing, always cheering on rushes, chanting "Defence", heckling the opposing goaltender, etc. Hopefully that will translate into sections 121 and 119 getting loud throughout the game too.
I am sick and tired of hearing how excited players like John Tavares, Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos all have family visiting them and watching. Lets turn this arena back into our building. Where the noise is deafening and where the Leafs want to score to hear their fans go CRAZY. Lets be the 7th man on the ice for them. Lets be a city where free agents or top talent will want to come to because we SUPPORT our team instead of analyzing every little mistake that they do.
I really want to get this place on the same noise level as Winnipeg, Montreal, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver.
Thoughts/Suggestions?
Simple answer to your huge comment, check the standings the past 7-8 years. Thats why the ACC has been quiet. It's utterly pathetic that this team hasn't made a single playoff appearance in almost a decade...A DECADE!!!! The ACC will get wild when the team gives the people something to get wild about.
Simple answer to your huge comment, check the standings the past 7-8 years. Thats why the ACC has been quiet. It's utterly pathetic that this team hasn't made a single playoff appearance in almost a decade...A DECADE!!!! The ACC will get wild when the team gives the people something to get wild about.
What is your definition of Corporate and what is the % of Subscribers that are Corporate?
No %, but majority of platinums are season ticket holders who have corporate tickets.
By corporate, we refer to those tickets that have been dedicated towards certain companies and corporations downtown and in the GTA (banks, businesses, etc, that offer tickets to their employees who come down to the game despite not necessarily being fans of the team, or the most vocal fans of the team).
They get the most heat because they are a quiet bunch. And they often show up during mid-week games in their suits with their blackberries in their hands.
But like I said, I've been going to Leaf games for 2 decades. There was a time where I would go to two or three games a month (ironically, on corporate tickets), and the suits around me would be just as enthusiastic and energetic about the game as the guys in the traditional "nosebleeds".
Sure, opening those seats up to hardcore fans (remove all the corporate tickets and put the feverish twitter fans on and who knows what sort of atmosphere you'll get), might help.
But the most obvious solution = winning. There was never a problem with the home atmosphere when the team was winning division titles and making it to the playoffs every year
I have more of a problem seeing the platinum seats empty for half of the period. Looks horrible. About the noise levels, I agree with others, a winning team would help.
