As a student on a tight budget, I’m always on the lookout for novel ways to save a buck or two.
Recently, I took a good look at my student card (the plastic rectangle that tells everyone that “I am the future,”) and came to a realization. Other than getting me a complimentary bag of chips with a sub, this little piece of identification doesn’t really help me at all.
Take the professional sports entertainment industry. Students are the most susceptible target audience for its youth-oriented ad campaigns, therefore you’d think pro sports teams would take strides to accommodate the student body, right? Wrong.
The student discount I expected to find when I went down to the ticket office at the Air Canada Centre was in fact just a figment of my imagination.
As I strolled up to the ticket window, a very friendly woman named Sally greeted me and asked how she could help. I proceeded to tell her that I am a student and I am looking for a student rate for an individual seat at a Toronto Maple Leafs or Raptors game. Sally stood there with a blank look on her face like I had just asked for her hand in marriage.
After the initial shock wore off, Sally curtly said that she was unaware of any package that offers a reduced price to students. She handed me a Leafs and Raptors mini-schedule and told me to have a nice day.
Now, I’m not expecting the NHL and NBA to roll out the red carpet for me, someone who pays less in two months rent than the cost of one Raptors courtside seat ($710). Or to someone who would need to begin a hunger strike to afford a Leafs rail ticket ($405). Both the Leafs and the Raptors are aware that there are people and corporations across the city to fill these expensive seats. But to completely freeze students out in the cold seems plain old mean.
I suppose we should be grateful that the Raptors offer a discount deal known as Sprite Zone tickets. For every Raptors home game, sections 312, 313, 317, and 318, located in the southwest and northwest corners of the upper bowl and are regularly priced at $36.50, are reduced to a very reasonable (anything that is cheaper then a pitcher of beer can be considered reasonable) price of $10.50.
From what I understand these four sections, that comprise over 1,500 seats, are available to anyone willing to wait close to an hour on the phone with a Ticketmaster representative only to have them tell you that the game you really wanted to see is sold out.
But it’s a start. Basketball, more then any other professional sport, has tried a number of different marketing ploys to attract the younger crowd. Even if you have to watch the Golden State Warriors while squinting the entire game just to see the ball, it’s an economic option that the Leafs don’t even offer.
After sending a very polite email to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club regarding their effort to accommodate university students, I was very pleased to see that within 48 hours they had responded. Unfortunately, other then the nice touch of starting the reply with “Dear david” the email consisted of a disclaimer that tickets are very limited and that those limited tickets started at $44, jumped to $86, and capped off in the $400 range. Nowhere in the entire email is the word student even mentioned. However, they did thank me for my continued support.
Maybe being a student in Montreal (home of the student discount) for the past four years has spoiled me. Take for instance the Montreal Expos.
Yes, this a team that is just about willing to give their tickets away, but they still make an effort to attract students. Friday nights all year long at Olympic Stadium was student night, where a regularly priced $8 seat was half-priced with a student card. And if you don’t think the Expos are fair game, the fabled Montreal Canadiens, winners of 13 more Stanley Cups then the Leafs, offer a “Molson Pack.” This gets a McGill student a Habs hockey ticket and a beer for $18, as opposed to the not so student-friendly price of $44 dollars and a gut check from the Leafs.
With that fresh Montreal memory in mind, I decided I would try using my student card one last time in hopes of getting a little ticket respect. I boldly walked up to the closest scalper outside the ACC and proudly showed him my student card, indicating that I am an arts student and I am looking for a discount. He began to indicate a hand gesture that made me realize even scalpers don’t offer student prices.
So if minor hockey isn’t your thing, or you still don’t really understand lacrosse, your best bet for an affordable ticket in this city is to wake-up early, call Ticketmaster and wait for your representative to tell you the best of the worst available seats. Or you can always watch some Varsity Blues football for free. Your choice.
For those interested in other affordable sports options:
1) Toronto Roadrunners (AHL hockey team) www.torontoadrunners.ca
2) Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse League) www.torontorock.com
3) St Michael’s Majors (OHL hockey) www.majors.ca
4) Toronto Lynx (North American A-League Soccer) www.lynxsoccer.com
