Sports
How MLSE decided who keeps their tickets with Leafs and Raptors crowds cut in half – Toronto Star
Inside Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the sales department had already been thinking about what to do if crowd limits at the home of the Raptors and Leafs were to be restricted again, as the spread of the Omicron variant dominated the news cycle.
But there wasn’t much to be done proactively on Wednesday when, just hours after a final decision by the provincial government was made, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced venues that hold 1,000 or more people — such as Scotiabank Arena — would be capped at 50 per cent.
Tom McDonald, MLSE’s vice-president of ticketing and sales, knew getting information out to ticket holders was the priority, even if there wasn’t much to be had at that point.
“Everybody just wants to understand what it means for them and their purchases,” McDonald said. “That was first and foremost. We needed to get in front of it. We needed to buy some time and let our fans know that we were on it.”
So the company “basically asked for patience,” he said, telling fans they would find out more in 24 hours.
MLSE had planned for limits during the Raptors’ pre-season and the start of the basketball schedule in October, but the government cleared the way for full capacity by the Oct. 20 home opener against the Washington Wizards. Tickets were sold en masse from there, and the game changed.
“It’s a different animal after you’ve already sold to full capacity, to try and back out of that 100 per cent capacity,” McDonald said. “There hasn’t been too many teams that have done it. So we’re in uncharted waters, so to speak.”
MLSE ultimately decided to “prioritize and satisfy” season-ticket holders — about 85 per cent of total seats for Leafs games, roughly 70 per cent for the Raptors — when deciding who gets into the building at half-capacity, roughly 10,000.
The process involved more than 100 employees — in the hours between Ford’s announcement and Thursday afternoon — to deal with refunds, answer a flood of questions from the public and help notify those who can attend, starting with Saturday night’s Raptors-Warriors game. The next Leafs home date is Dec. 23 against the St. Louis Blues.
“All non-season seat tickets will be refunded, and tickets will be allocated among season seat members for upcoming games based on the new capacity limited,” MLSE said in Thursday’s statement.
Similar to the Raptors pre-season, when restrictions were also in place, season-ticket holders will be divided randomly into two groups and receive tickets to attend alternate games “between now and mid-January.”
“Members will be contacted again in January with allocations for the next phase of games based on current public health restrictions. All ticket holders will be notified of refund details in the coming days, with Raptors members being notified (Thursday) and Leafs members being notified by Tuesday, of allocation details.”
Credit-card refunds will take seven to 10 days, McDonald said.
McDonald called the compromise “fair and equitable” for ticket holders.
“Our members have made the commitment of buying every seat for every game and that’s a commitment we made to them. to give them access when we are able,” he said. “Obviously going through this process with reduced capacity, things have changed, but we made this decision to prioritize them given the history and the long-standing support that our members have and continue to give us.”
The process of trying to prepare for all eventualities in a shifting environment has been a challenge for the ticketing staff for more than 18 months.
“There has been and continues to be a ton of scenario planning … There’s a ton of work that happens. A lot of it ends up on the cutting room floor based on direction from health officials,” he said.
The game plan will be re-evaluated after the holidays. MLSE hopes no more refunds will be required, but there’s no telling what the situation will look like in January.
The Montreal Canadiens have already gone a step further on restrictions, announcing Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre would go ahead without fans in the stands. Quebec public health officials had requested that no fans attend the game because of the “spiralling rise of COVID-19 cases in the region.”
The Canadiens said they expect a return to limited crowds in early January.
A number of popular games on the Raptors schedule falls over the next few weeks. Danny Green will finally get his championship ring from the Raptors when the 76ers visit on Dec. 28, and Serge Ibaka plays his first game in Toronto since leaving as a free agent when the Clippers are in town on Dec. 31.
Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are in town on Dec. 29, while Connor McDavid makes his only appearance in his hometown on Jan. 5.
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TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
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