Move over, Toronto.
Following a successful year that saw the Montreal Canadiens reach the Eastern Conference final, tickets to see the Habs play at home this season will be the most expensive in the NHL — a new feat for the historic franchise.
According to sports betting and online casino research firm Bookies.com and TicketData.com, a website devoted to tracking resale ticket prices, Canadiens fans will pay an average of over $220 for cheapest tickets — more than double the league average — to see their team in action this season.
Montreal is one of the biggest markets in the NHL, and the Canadiens consistently rank in the top five among priciest tickets in the league, with the Toronto Maple Leafs leading the pack most seasons over the past decade.
Moshe Lander, a sports economist and associate professor at Concordia University, says although Habs fans might not be happy about the high ticket costs, they shouldn’t be surprised.
“Unfortunately for Montreal Canadiens fans, a little bit of success is the type of thing that reawakens a lot of dormant fans.”
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After starting a rebuild in 2021 that saw the Canadiens finish at or near the bottom of the standings three years in a row, Montreal reached the playoffs in each of its last two seasons, and a skilled young core is driving a renewed sense of excitement around the team.
Lander says it is also driving ticket prices up.
“It’s in demand like anything else,” he said.
‘It used to be more accessible,’ fan says
Habs fan Melissa Plett has been attending games at the Bell Centre since she moved from Manitoba to Montreal 15 years ago, but current prices are making her think twice about buying a ticket this season.
Plett says she understands why ticket prices are going up, but as the team continues to improve, she worries die-hard fans will be priced out of the rink.
“I feel like it used to be more accessible,” Plett said. “Even when you go down [to the boards] for warm-up and then you have to leave because the ticket owners come down. It definitely feels like it’s the elites or whatever you want to call them that can afford that down there.”
Plett says playoff tickets are even more inaccessible.
“You keep wondering which game you should pay for because these tickets are so expensive,” Plett said. “It’s become such a gamble on your money.”
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Is it cheaper for Montreal Habs fans to make the trip to Buffalo than the Bell Centre?
Playoff tickets in Montreal could set you back several hundred or even thousand dollars. For some Canadiens fans, it makes more sense to head south of the border to Buffalo, N.Y., to watch the Habs battle the Sabres.
For other fans, like Sunil Peetush, it’s worth the gamble.
“It is the hottest ticket in town. It is the big show in Montreal, so you’re expected to pay a premium,” he said.
Peetush, who is a season ticket holder, says he maintains that it is a good deal to see the Habs play in Montreal — if you can get tickets before they hit the resale market.
His season tickets come out to less than $200 per game. “I see them selling on the aftermarket sometimes $600 to $1,000 a seat where I am sitting,” Peetush said.
While the team doesn’t have any say in resale prices, Canadiens owner Geoff Molson wrote in a statement to CBC News that the organization aims to make games accessible to as many fans as possible.
At the start of each season, it releases thousands of tickets to the public, including discounted options for families and students. A limited number of tickets for upcoming games are also released on the 15th of each month.
The same seats sold directly by the organization are consistently cheaper than those on the resale market, but Plett says they go so quickly, she doesn’t even bother trying to get into online ticket queues.
“Even if I tried to get on that… chances are I’m not going to be the one to buy them and then I forget about it and I miss out,” she said.
Secondary market booming
Earlier this year, Quebec cracked down on resale markets when it passed a law requiring platforms to disclose when tickets are being resold.
But critics say it still comes up short in lowering prices for consumers on the secondary market.
Unlike similar legislation in Ontario, the Quebec law doesn’t include a price cap on resale tickets, which allows resellers to charge inflated prices much like an unregulated market.
When faced with criticism, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette defended his government’s decision to stop short of introducing a price cap on resale tickets, arguing that it would create an illegal market.
In the Canadiens’ case, the law, which came into effect Sept. 12, has so far done little to limit illegal resale markets.
Although the organization’s terms and conditions state holders must resell their tickets exclusively through Ticketmaster, the team’s official marketplace, fans looking for seats can still find them on a number of other ticketing sites or through social media groups dedicated to reselling and buying Canadiens tickets.
High interest paired with a healthy resale market means the price to see the Habs play at home likely won’t decrease any time soon.
Still, Peetush says this season’s high get-in price at the Bell Centre will be worth it most nights.
“The team is so dynamic, it’s so young, the building is just topping… I guarantee you if they win, you’ll be hyped for a week.”