Are Canada really “no better or worse” than other NHL teams when it comes to rising ticket prices, Geoff Molson said Monday morning?
This is the answer of the owner of CH when he was asked by Simon-Olivier Lorange, from The Pressabout the increase in ticket costs and the fact that management does not necessarily refer to the series, but above all for progress.
With the help of tools from statistical companies and sports marketing research groups*, I tried to prove if Geoff Molson was telling the truth.
The conclusion is that he is not right. It’s not the same everywhere in the league.
Much more expensive
Yes, some teams are worse than Canada and some are better. But Canada is one of the worst. Especially when we see that the teams that raise the prices the most have won one or more Stanley Cups in recent years.
The average price of a ticket in 2022 at the Canadiens is $143, which is more expensive than 25 other clubs (all prices in this text are converted to Canadian dollars with the exchange rate applicable at the given time).
In 2011, the year Geoff Molson became the team’s president and CEO, it was $92.
In Tampa Bay between 2011 and 2022, tickets increased from $39 to $103. The progress was huge, but so was the ice scene.
In Carolina, average prices rose from $43 to $80. In Colorado, from $42 to $82. These are also significant increases that have a direct link to team performance. In Edmonton, the McDavid effect caused tickets to increase from $68 to $122.
But for teams that haven’t always put on a big show since 2011, like the Canadians, the increases are very different.
In Ottawa, tickets range from $63 to $81 on average. In Calgary, from $70 to $90. In Vancouver, from $70 to $103. In Florida, they fell by $3.
We comforted ourselves in Toronto
Goeff Molson can boast that it’s less bad than Toronto, that’s for sure. The team that is allergic to consecutive victories remains the organization par excellence for printing money, while the cost of average tickets increased from $131 to $196.
For a Canadiens game, if we count 4 tickets, two beers, four drinks, four hotdogs, parking and two caps, a night costs $748 (2022), this is 7e most expensive in the league, behind Toronto, Vegas, Seattle and Boston, for example. It was $502 in 2011.
In Ottawa, it’s $479, in St. Louis, it’s $443 and in Florida, $432 to give some examples of the least expensive teams.
If Canada is struggling financially, some of the cost increases might be more palatable for fans. But this is not the case. According to Forbes, in 2022, Canada’s income will be $323 million. Only the Rangers, Kings and Maple Leafs did a little more.
If we remove operating expenses from these revenues, still according to Forbes, the Canadian will earn $149 million in 2022. This is the highest paying team after the Rangers. The league average is $66 million.
And all of that, obviously, without taking into account the Canadian value that increases every year. The team was worth $677M when Geoff Molson arrived in 2011. The club is now worth $2.4B.
It is not a non-profit
It’s all a question of supply and demand, obviously, though the average Quebec household might not think too much about going to the Bell Centre.
And a professional group is not a non-profit organization. Geoff Molson is clearly a very good manager and didn’t buy the team to lose money.
But when the goal of making the playoffs is secondary for a team that’s so expensive to watch, surely an $11 can of Molson Ex at the Bell Center is tougher to swallow for the die-hard fan who can’t tolerate anymore. go see you at your club.
