Information on Personal Seat Licenses from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment

Toronto Maple Leaf and Raptor Licenses for Sale

Please note that we have now handled many Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) Seat License agreements. After over 100 license transactions and we know the proper way to handle the MLSE Personal Seat Licenses (PSL) transfers. The fact that we have handled more licenses than anyone is a tribute to our way of ensuring both the buyers and the sellers are protected. 

In some cases we were the buyers, some cases we were the sellers, and in other cases we acted as the broker between the buyer and seller. If you need to sell your seat license we do have a waiting list of buyers for many different seat sections. However since we act as a broker we know the marketplace and the fair market value, we will not act for anyone trying to sell the license way over the fair market value. We want both the seller and the buyer do walk away believing that a fair price was achieved for both the buyers and the sellers for the seat license!

One Simple Request, please do not email me or call me before you invest 10 minutes in reading the FAQ, as it will save alot of your valuable time in asking me alot of questions that are covered in the FAQ.  I do answer my emails promptly, and I do take phone calls but asking that you read the FAQ.

Please read the following before considering listing your license for sale as Lange will require the following

• A copy of your Personal Seat License that was issued by MLSE by fax or scanned/e-mailed to us. It is your responsibility to contact MLSE and arrange to receive a copy of it. Should MLSE not have a copy on record, a formal letter from MLSE is required to confirm your PSL account is in good standing and is able to be transferred.
  
  
• A copy of your most recent season ticket invoice from MLSE. This is required in order to include current ticket cost in the listing price.
  
  
• A meeting at your place of business or your home to verify that you are authorized to deal with the seat license sale.
  
  
• If the sale is being processed from a company name, two senior managers or owners are required to sign the PSL transfer form
  
  
• A seat license transfer form from MLSE. The correct phone number and contact at MLSE can be provided to you. You are required to fax or e-mail us a copy of the transfer form to provide further proof of your ownership.
  
  
• To think long and hard before you agree to sell your seat license, once we start the process of the seat license transfer by having you sign the PSL transfer form, which is done once we have a buyer, who has provided us with a deposit cheque, there is no going back on the transfer.  If you wish to "test the water" by seeing if their is interest, DONT post the tickets with our service, If you committed to selling your license, we can assist you.  Should you think you may need to change your mind, please don’t list the license for sale.  We spend a lot of time and energy dealing with the buyers questions and concerns  both by e-mail and by phone and then taking the time if necessary taking the buyer down to the ACC for a tour of the seats.
  
  
• You need to read all the FAQ's before contacting us; you will understand the proper procedure much better by reading the FAQ's.
  
  

Please note these Toronto Maple Leaf licenses sections that are in demand:

• Platinum and Gold in section 107,108,109 or 120,119,118
• Reds in section 110 to 117
• Green and Purple in any section. The lower the row the better.

Please call Eric Lange at 905-362-1290 ext 223 or email at ericl@langeshow.com

Before we accept any offers we require the following

• You have read the FAQ's before contacting us; it will save you a lot of time on the phone with us if you understand the process before you e-mail or call us.
  
  
• You do not offer a low ball offer as it will normally just upset the seller, and will not lead to a sale. If the seller is anxious to sell they will contact us to move their price down on our website. You can certainly e-mail us to indicate that should the price point fall on a certain license to a certain level to contact you at that time.
  
  
• Know that Lange will 100% guarantee that any funds you provide for a seat license is protected, should the seller be unable to complete the transaction.
  
  
• Carefully read the description of the seat licenses, and note that in some cases we are selling Leaf or Raptors only, while other cases include both Leaf/Raptors club seats.
  

1. Why would anyone want to purchase a seat license?

The waiting period for Leaf Season Tickets is approximately 20 years and has over 4,000 names on the list. The entire Air Canada Centre (ACC) is now licensed for the right to purchase Leaf season tickets, the only legitimate way to get season tickets without using a ticket broker or other "after market" seller is to purchase a Personal Seat License, (PSL) or to have your Uncle Charlie agree to provide you with your Toronto Maple Leaf tickets. However since most of us dont have an Uncle Charlie, purchasing a PSL means you can pick the type of seat you want with your own budget in mind.
Please note the following: We don’t recommend to anyone to use a bank loan or line of credit to purchase a seat license as an investment. You should only purchase a seat license because you or your company has too much cash sitting around and you don’t know what else to do with it.

2. Is owning a seat license a good or even great investment?

A seat license can be under a company name, which means you get to write off the license as an asset over a 3 to 5 year period, (please consult with your CA to confirm) in addition you can write off on the HST portion of the purchase of a seat license. You may also choose as a business  to write off the annual season ticket purchase for entertaining or client care purposes.  

As an individual sitting on a pile of cash and have no need to invest in other items, such as your own RSP’s, your mortgage is paid off, your kids education funds are taken care of, then yes it’s a possible reasonable investment. It is not recommend that anyone purchase a seat license as a personal investment unless you have taken care of the above mentioned items first.

3. How did Lange get so involved in a seat licenses?

A long story, but in order to save time over phone conversation this is how Lange got involved. Lange Transportation & Storage (www.langeshow.com) was purchasing season tickets through a long time friend, who owned 4 gold seats at the Air Canada Centre, and had agreed to paid him $10 over face value for each ticket, and then shared them among a couple other business owners. One day my friend (and a business owner) that owned the season tickets came into the office and explained he wished to sell his seat license as he could use the cash for other purposes. He offered Lange a few days to do some research on the value of the license, and then we purchased the Personal Seat License for $120,000. Lange then approached the other business menthat I shared the season tickets with and explained that since $120,000 was invested on those season ticket rights, a charge of $30 would be added per ticket. A breakdown of $30 x 4 (the number of tickets per game) x 45 (the number of home games) for a total of $5,400. Note that the invoice cost of the season tickets are approximately $10 below face value, which comes to a more accurate margin of $40 per ticket x 4 x 45 = $7,200 per year on my $120,000 investment. Compared to a bank that was only offering 2% interest on money in the bank, this was a great investment. Please note, the purchase was under a company name and shown as an asset, as well the purchase of the season tickets was shown as a normal business transaction and not entertainment purposes. The sale of the season tickets as a proper recorded credit on the balance sheet as well. The above was not done to avoid, or defer taxes; in fact I had to pay corporate taxes on the profit made on the season tickets which reduces the return on the investment.

Then other clients wanted to purchase season tickets, which required Lange to purchase other seat licenses, including Platinum's,more Gold seats, Air Canada Clubs, Reds, Greens and Purples. Lange had extra cash flow that wasn't serving other purposes, and that was the start of the ticket exchange service, Lange Ticket Exchange, which many may recognize as www.etorontotickets.com. A couple of years later there was a need to purchase a new building for the 'parent company' Lange Transportation (www.langeshow.com), it was found that by selling the excess seat licenses, Lange could use it to assist in the cost to purchase a 70,000 sq ft building. If you go to www.langeshow.com and read the section on the greening of our building, you can read the story on how Lange took a 30 year old building and did many renovations including becoming Canada’s first retrofitted geothermal building. The entire building does not use fossil fuels to heat or air-condition but use Mother Earth and modern technology with heat exchange units to heat and air-condition the entire building. So in the process of purchasing and then selling the seat licenses from MLSE is how the knowledge and experience has trained the best experts in the selling and buying of seat licenses.

4. Why do you - Lange continue to sell, purchase or broker seat licenses?

When asked to assist someone in selling their license, it is posted on this web site, with an initial posting fee of $35. Upon further agreement with the seller there is a fee of at least $2,500 plus HST per pair from the sale of the seat license. If a license is posted at $50,000 plus HST and sells, then $47,500 plus HST will go to the seller and $2,500 plus HST to Lange. This is the reason Lange continues to act on behalf of buyers and sellers is there is a charge for our services.  On some occasions a seller requires the license sell immediately due to urgent cash flow requirements, and Lange as a company may choose to purchase the seat license outright if the price is right.

Please note when you purchase a seat license, MLSE requires that you cannot re-sell them for a one year period. So when Lange purchases a seat license it is understood that the seat license must be held for a one year period.

5. Why do you charge a $35 administration fee for posting?

With numerous requestions from season ticket holders asking us to sell their seat license, Lange wants to be sure the seller is truly interested in selling their license. Lange has found by for a very reasonable $35 administration fee, the sellers will truly consider whether or not to sell. Therefore time in posting the license information isn't wasted. In some cases we also discovered the seller was acting on behalf of other family members and may not have had permission to do so. The $35 is to ensure the seller is really a seller.

6. Does Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment charge any fees relating to the seat license transfer?

Yes, in two ways. If the seat license has already been purchased by the season ticket holder, then the legal dept of MLSE will actually do the seat transfer from the original seat holder to the new buyer. Presently the fee from MLSE is $500 plus 13% HST. We recommend the buyer pay the fee, so that if something is done wrong by MLSE legal dept. than the buyer will have better standing from a legal point if you paid for the service.

If the seat license has NOT been paid for by the season ticket holder, then MLSE will require the original seat license will still have to be paid for, remember the example I gave in FAQ number three, when I paid the seat holder $120,000 for his license, in actual fact $80,000 of that went to MLSE to pay for the original seat license, so the original season ticket holder actually took in $40,000 after he paid the $80,000 to MLSE.

For all prices quoted for seat licenses, will have assumed the original seat license has been paid. If not, part of the buyer’s money will be made payable to MLSE and part to the original season ticket holder. For those that are fully paid the original license seat holder will get all of the funds.

7. Does purchasing a seat license during a recession period really make sense?

If the seller really needs to sell, then like any opportunity its a great time to purchase a seat license, prices have come down in the lower bowl and certainly are not going up in the upper bowl, and some great opportunities may be there that will not be there at this price level in the next year or two. Two promises are made when it comes to value at these price points, the first when the leafs and or raptors have a strong regular season, and the promise of play-off season is coming, prices will go up, the second is should either team go deep into the play-offs the value will continue to go up. By purchasing now, you buying licenses at prices that were not seen in the past 5 to 8 years.

8. Why would I want to sell my license during a recession period?

That is the easiest question to answer; sellers have the following reasons to sell their license during these recessionary times.

a) You need the cash flow that a sale of a license may bring

b) You don’t need to commit further capital for the purchase of season tickets, which is a 45 game commitment

c) You want to free up your staff from having to deal with the 45 games and the management of those tickets

9. Why are the Air Canada Club seat licenses less costly than other licenses?

Remember the seller sets the prices for the sale of the license, but the answer is simple, in fact, I was told this in my grade 9th economics class some 35 years ago and its still true. Supply + demand = Price

So if you have lots of supply and little demand it will equal into a low price, if on the other hand you have limited supply and lots of demand the prices go up very quickly. You will notice I have lots of Air Canada Club seats on our website, but not as much demand because of the fact you are required to pay for Leaf season tickets & Raptor season tickets & club fees comes to a much higher overall annual commitment for the club seats. So if you and or your company can handle the annual commitment for the tickets, then you don't have to pay a lot for the license, which is great value for the buyer.  But if you only want the best gold or platinum seats or the very best 1st row greens, or purples, in the centre ice area, there is very limited supply of those and lots of demand, and the prices are much higher for those licenses.  

Sub-question to question #9., Can I separate the raptor season tickets from the package? NOOOOOOO,, hence why the price of the Air Canada Club licenses are less money to purchase, you are obligated to take the Leaf Season Tickets, the Raptor Season Tickets, and pay for the club fees. You will not under any condition be allowed to separate the two teams from the license and the annual costs related to purchasing the license.

10. Why are their so few blues, greens and purples on your site?

Supply &  Demand, due to the low cost of the upper bowl tickets, most individuals or companies can afford to keep the season tickets, compared to the $200 per ticket for gold's, so very little supply comes into the market, and there is a high of demand for the upper bowl.  

11. lF I purchase a license but I dont need all the season tickets, who can assist me in selling off the unwanted or unneeded excess tickets for leafs/raptors?

First you will learn quickly that if you let all your circle of friends, family, workmates know that you have access to leafs and or raptor tickets you will normally have a bigger problem, who gets the big games! But bottom line, if you want to sell your unwanted tickets you can use a service like www.eTorontoTickets.com where you can either sell the tickets outright, or post them on their website at no charge to you.

12. Do you have a waiting list for people looking for certain type of seat licenses?

Yes we do, and to be added to the waiting list send me the following details,

Your full name, your daytime phone number and cell number, the type of license your looking for, i.e. your want golds in the centre ice area, or you want anything in the upper bowl, and send the email to ericl@langeshow.com. As new inventory comes in that may meet your expectations we will send it off to you. We promise never to provide your name and information to any other parties for any reason.

13. When do you get new Personal Seat License inventory coming in?

I never know when I will get a phone call or email from a season ticket holder or Personal Seat License holder offering to sell their license or rights to their seats. However rule of thumb is

a) I get the call when the annual invoice comes out in March each year, asking the owner of the seats to make their payment for their season tickets

b) I also get the calls in late August when the actual season tickets come in, and the owner says what am I doing with all these tickets again

c) I also get calls during the year, but not as many asking for advice or suggestions about their value of the license, and perhaps looking to sell the license.

Bottom line, I dont know when the next available license will come in.

14. How long does the Personal Seat License last for?

License is good for as long as the ACC is in existence. MLSE will not comment that should the leafs relocate in 50 years would the license be honoured at the new location, assume that the license will not be honoured, but your get first right of refusal at the new building in 40 or 50 or 60 years… , but no guarantee that will happen. But if you look at the history of when MLSE moved from the Maple Leaf Gardens, season ticket holders were given first option on relocating to the ACC based on the years of holding the season tickets, and where your previous seats were located. So if you were in greys at the Gardens, you got first option on purples at the ACC.

15. How can I see the seats to see if I like them?

You have a number of choices,

a) purchase a pair of tickets for a leaf game, go down early i.e. 1 hour before the game and go and test drive them during the warm up of the event or the worse that will happen is someone is sitting in those seats, then go either one row up or down to see the action and if your going to be happy with those seats.

b) you can try to request to see the seats during the daytime while the building is in hockey mode or basketball mode, but unless you see them seats in the sport mode of what your purchasing, it will not be realistic, also many times MLSE staff will not be available so its not the most recommended method to see the seats. But we can try to get in into the building during the day, but again not recommended.

c) I have a massive, approx. 43 inch, by 41 inch detailed seating chart in my office that clearly shows the individual seats, the aisles, etc, etc, that you can see exactly that row 6 in section 101 seats 6-7 are actually two rows off the ice, and that seat number 7 is the aisle seat, or that section 118 row 1 seat 9-10, that seat 10 is next to the visitors ramp going to the dressing room, or that section 317 row 4 seats 17-18 are aisle seat and right next to the exit point from the concourse area, great for easy in and out of the building!

I am having 15 large framed copies of the original detailed seating chart of Air Canada Centre specially made up for our clients.  These are the original architect drawing of the ACC seating chart, and measure just over 4 ft long by just over 3 feet wide. This framed original seating chart is very large due to its very fine detail of the original ACC seating chart including seat numbers and row numbers, and camera positions, concourse entrance and exit points.

You will be able to with this very detailed seating chart share with friends and family, workmates, exactly where your personal seat license (PSL) seats are located, or if you don’t yet have the PSL you will be able to see exactly where the seats are in the Air Canada Centre.

The cost of the large framed, mounted with glass front will be $450 each, plus hst if you have interest in one. You will be one of the very few people to have the original detailed architect seating chart, including TV camera positions etc.  I am going to have also 6 plaked  detailed seating chart copies available at $190 each, but will not include the original architect information as to date of the drawing, scale, and other architect information.

I put one up at the house in my games room, a framed copy and the people over during the holidays were blown away with the detail on this seating chart and the size!.. I have it next to a signed Sidney Crosby Jersey and a signed team 1998 Leaf jersey (I got to practice with the leaf team that year!) which included players like Doug Gilmour, and not one person mentioned the Jersey's it was all about the original ACC seating chart that blew everyone away! I am also going to put one up at the office as well, as I know it will be the centre of attention.

Let me know if you have interest, I have it priced so that even if you knew the architect, to have it copied, mounted, and framed or just plaked, you couldn’t have it done for less money.

Eric Lange,

905-362-1290 ext 223

• Thanks for getting us our Toronto Maple Leaf Seat License. We have been trying to get one for a few years with no luck. Once we found out about
  Etoronto tickets it didn't take long for you to find us a seller.

  To anyone looking to purchase a Personal Seat License:

  I would recommend that anyone interested in purchasing a personal seat license should call upon Eric Lange (Etoronto Tickets) for his assistance.
  Eric will find you a seller and the transfer will go very smoothly. Eric always kept us informed of the status of the transfer and promptly answered
  any questions we had. Etoronto tickets is a professional, reputable company that I would recommend to anyone.

  Eric, again thanks for all your help.

       Regards
       G&B

• I wanted thank-you for your excellent service in dealing with the listing, transfer and sale of my Maple Leaf Season Tickets/Licenses. You clearly have a great connection with both real buyers and sellers as demonstrated by your ability to process this transaction quickly and efficiently.  I was very pleased with the process and thought your organization did a great job of meeting all of my objectives.  I would certainly recommend to all interested buyers and/or sellers of Leafs licenses to use your services - I know I certainly will again.

   

          ADS

  
  
•   I wanted to send a quick note to thank you for the professional and expeditious handling of my Raptor license transfer and sale. Everything happened as you outlined clearly to the purchaser and me, and nothing was left for misinterpretation. I appreciate your service and would recommend it to anyone.

                  Best regards, 

                  Gary Wilson, Master Lift

• Thanks Eric for the package containing the cheques for the final transfer of the Personal Seat License, I am very impressed by your professionalism, it has been a pleasure, best wishes for 2010 and beyond.

                    DM

• I would like to advise that the sale of my 2 blue and 2 green Maple Leaf seats has been successfully completed. When I decide to sell I called your offices and your employees outlined the procedure and my options. I chose to engage Eric Lange as my broker. Eric came to my house in Port Dover and detailed his involvement. I asked why it could not be done over the phone and he said he wanted to be satisfied that his client as indeed a 'real' person before he presented the purchase opportunity to prospective buys. He said that he would be engaging them face to face as well. I was surprised at the details that had to be dealt with throughout this transaction and I thank your people and Eric for making it happen with no aggravation for me.

                    Thank you.

                    DMc

                    Port Dover, ON

• Professional service from start to finish, I am 100% confident that I will be giving your name out to anyone that is considering selling or purchasing a Personal Seat License. The fact other websites dont put their own name, address of their location says it all when it comes to ensuring your                dealing  with a legit organization from start to finish.

                    Again THANK you,

                    LM

                    Toronto, On

• Hi Eric, You have done an extra ordinary job explaining the  "ins and outs" buying and selling  ACC  licences.It's a real education what is involved. Best to you and your  family for 2012.

                    SM

                   Toronto

As Platinum Seat License holder, it's important to know what exclusive features your entitled to.

1. Access to the Platinum club member private entrance, located at Gate 2B on Bay street. This provides ease when entering and exiting the building.
   
   
2. Access to the very exclusive fine dining at the Platinum restaurant, located at Gate 2B. Reservations can be made up to 2 hours before game time, and have the option of enjoying the Platinum Bar instead of sitting down to a formal dinner. For a limited number of concerts, the platinum restaurant may be open prior to the concert and other events. Be sure to call ahead to see if the Platinum restaurant will be open for that event.
   
   
3. Free Platinum members only Coat Check service is located at the bottom of the stairs near the Gate 2B entrance.
   
   
4. Access to two private food and beverage areas located under the stands by sections 106-105 and 101-122.
   
   
5. Access to Platinum member only private washrooms.
   
   
6. Access to purchase your seats for all concerts and most events at the ACC before the general public sale, even for sold out events.
   
   
7. Ability to sell your unwanted tickets through the Toronto Maple/ Raptor Ticket Exchange program. You can also purchase tickets directly from the Toronto Maple Leaf/ Toronto Raptor Ticket Exchange program, you can purchase up to 4 tickets for each game with your exclusive club membership. Please note that the program DOES NOT guarantee that their are tickets available, or that your tickets will sell.
   
   
8. It is common for Platinum Seat members to receive up to 3 exclusive invitations per year. Exclusive events in the past have included a skating party at either ACC or at the Lions Lakeshore practice rink for you and 3 others, that included food and beverage. These are great way to take young ones out to enjoy the ice and to potentially meet alumni players and maybe a Leaf as well. This year, Brian Burke held a excusive Platinum members only reception at the ROM, with food and beverage and Mr. Burke provided his hindsights, and introduced his management team, a lovely evening out by all accounts will have leaf players and alumni players as well, this years event is on Feb 2nd 2012. Other events include viewing a Leaf team practice. While no events are guaranteed, MLSE has certainly understood that platinum seat holders are deserving of some special members only events.

You pay good money to be an Air Canada Club Member, it's important to know what exclusive features your entitled to.

1. Access to the exclusive for Air Canada Club Members entrance, located in Gate 2 off Bay Street. This allows for little wait time entering and easy exit after the game as well.
   
   
2. Access to exclusive members only Air Canada Club Restaurant. . Take advantage of watching the entire warm-up, and access your table during the game, allowing you to watch the action from your seats, then go back for desert at your table between periods. Talk business and make your deals before the game over a delicious meal, and then enjoy the game from your seats.
   
   
3. Access Air Canada Lounge areas, located behind sections 117-122 as well as behind sections 105-110, which has private washrooms, food court and private "bistro seating".
   
   
4. Access to purchase your seats for all concerts and events at the ACC before the general public sale, even for sold out events.
   
   
5. Purchase up to 4 additional tickets per month for upcoming Leaf and Raptor games, located in the rail seats in the Air Canada Club restaurant. These seats face the playing surface of the restaurant, and have no food or beverage requirements. These seats have all features of ACC seat. The price per ticket for rail seats in 2009-10 for Leaf's game were $165 per ticket, and Raptor's games were $85 per ticket, we do not have a confirmation on the prices for 2010-11.
   
   
6. Ability to sell your unwanted tickets through the Toronto Maple/ Raptor Ticket Exchange program. You can also purchase tickets directly from the Toronto Maple Leaf/ Toronto Raptor Ticket Exchange program, you can purchase up to 4 tickets for each game with your exclusive club membership. Please note that the program DOES NOT guarantee that their are tickets available, or that your tickets will sell.
   
   
7. It is common for Air Canada Club members to receive  1 or 2 exclusive invitations per year. For example, normally a skating party at either ACC or at the Lions Lakeshore practice rink for you and 3 others, that includes food and beverage. These are great way to take young ones out to enjoy the ice and to potentially meet alumni players and maybe a Leaf as well. Another outing was at the Polson Pier where batting cages, go-carting, driving range were set up and food and beverage were supplied.

Please e-mail Eric Lange at ericl@langeshow.com for any inquiries