The Toronto Raptors is using modest prices to sell season tickets for its inaugural season next year.
Mark Lavaway, ticketing director for the National Basketball Association team, says the club’s approach has been to set prices that are fair, not what the market will bear.
It should be noted the Raptors – and the Vancouver Grizzlies, the other new franchise – will play their first season with a roster largely stocked with the cast-offs of other nba teams, and instant success on the court is not anticipated.
Other NBA prices
Lavaway says the Raptors did not pull the ticket prices out of the air, but, looked instead at other nba prices in cities about the same size as Toronto, as well as ticket prices for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Lavaway says by making tickets available to as many people as possible he expects to see everything from suits to baseball caps among the fans, and a fair number of women, too, if the nba experience in the u.s. is repeated in Canada.
Another ticketing wrinkle the Raptors have adopted is a ‘Footprint Licence’ that allows season ticketholders to transfer all or part of their designated seats to someone else, a practice other major league clubs discourage.
The licence costs from $750 to $1,250 in the upper bowl and is optional. In the lower bowl, the licence is compulsory and costs $1,750 to $8,750.
Long-term interest
John Bitove, president of the Raptors, says offering premium seats and other amenities to top season ticketholders, and, at the same time, providing reasonably priced single tickets is in the long term interest of the franchise and its fans.
Season tickets for the Raptors for its 1995-96 season at SkyDome range from $10 a game to $85 a game. Both prices include all taxes.
The club also intends, for its first two seasons at SkyDome until its own arena gets built, to make a significant number of single game, end zone tickets available, including special tickets for the Raptors Foundation and groups.
As well, the team will sell about 5,000 $5 tickets on game days during its stay at SkyDome. DC
