Toronto Marlies enjoying surge in ticket sales

Maybe Toronto is a hockey town after all.

The Marlies, the American Hockey League farm team of the locked-out Leafs, have seen a surge in season-ticket sales and are expecting a 15 per cent increase in attendance this season, which opens at home on Oct. 13.

“The growth of our ticket base hasn’t slowed down since our playoff run,” said Mike Cosentino, director of business operations for the Marlies.

Season-ticket sales are up 74 per cent from last year, he said, when the Marlies won the AHL North Division with an impressive 44-24-5-3 record and reached the Calder Cup final, getting swept by the Norfolk Admirals.

The Marlies, who drew an average of 5,480 fans to home games last season, forecast at least a 15 per cent increase at the Ricoh Centre this year, Cosentino said.

But before chalking up the growth in attendance to NHL-starved fans looking for a fix of games by current and future Leafs, Cosentino said he “can’t say one way or the other” whether the lockout is having any impact because the interest in Marlies’ tickets hasn’t slowed since late last spring.

“Last year’s performance helped us out so much in terms of awareness of the Marlies and getting the stories of our players out there,” Cosentino said.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/article/1265172--toronto-marlies-enjoying-surge-in-ticket-sales

Posted via email from Markham Real Estate Today with Asif Khan