Maple Leafs Need to Upgrade In-Game Entertainment at Scotiabank Arena

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At the same time as the Toronto Maple Leafs have been working away at improving their on-ice product with the hiring of Craig Berube and additions of the likes of Anthony Stolarz and Chris Tanev, their owners, Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), have been looking to improve the in-game experience at Scotiabank Arena.

To the credit of MLSE and the Maple Leafs’ game operations crew, their efforts have been clear. Work is still ongoing on the ambitious renovation project around the arena. Meanwhile, subtle enhancements have been made to the in-game entertainment, with new corporate partnerships with companies like Oreo enabling fun giveaways and some fresh intermission segments being incorporated, such as a new karaoke sing-along towards the end of the first intermission. Even the popular Pizza Pizza promotion has been extended, now granting fans a free slice if Toronto scores first in any period.

While the minor improvements are appreciated, there’s so much more MLSE can do. For a Maple Leafs organization that consistently ranks atop the Forbes franchise valuations list, there exists a real opportunity to set the club’s home games apart from the other 31 teams. With resources at their disposal and a clear problem to try and solve, let’s look at how Toronto can enhance their game day experience outside of the 60 minutes of game play.

Use of Alumni

It’s no surprise that a franchise with the rich history of the Maple Leafs is largely unmatched in terms of being able to utilize its alumni. Especially with so many ex-players living in the Greater Toronto Area, you are liable to have any number of legendary Leafs in the building on a given night, whether it be Darryl Sittler, Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour or one of many other past greats.

But unless you happen to catch them in the hallways or linger around outside the alumni box at the right time, the only time you’re likely to spot them at a Maple Leafs home game is during the segment dedicated to celebrating a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. Seeing the alumnus present them with a jersey and shake their hand while the crowd applauds makes for a nice moment, but doesn’t exactly extract full value out of having former players on hand.

Other clubs have ceremonial pre-game gongs and sirens, often calling on alumni to participate. Beyond that, mini interviews or celebrations of anniversaries of historic achievements would be nice ways to offer face time for alumni while eliciting a reaction from fans in attendance. Even the old gimmick of disguising legendary players behind their own fake masks hasn’t been put into practice in quite some time. Bottom line, apart from special, unique circumstances (such as in the video above), fans at Scotiabank Arena don’t bear witness to enough of the club’s history through its former players.

Humour

Sometimes, in-game entertainment doesn’t need to be exciting or special to be engaging, nor does it require the allure of a free t-shirt. Sometimes, entertaining a crowd simply boils down to being funny. And no, I’m not talking about the corny, cringey fan dream segments of recent years, which seem to have mercifully been put to an end.

Now, comedy admittedly isn’t easy, but some teams have found a successful recipe for amusing diversions that can reliably elicit laughter. The Edmonton Oilers occasionally employ the celebrity look-alike cam, singling out familiar-looking fans in the crowd and highlighting them in comparison to their famous doppleganger. Not only does this bring laughs inside the arena, but it can also yield viral moments for the club. At the recent Hockey Hall of Fame exhibition game at Scotiabank Arena, the Hall’s game operations folks showcased a ‘reverse food’ camera that played video of fans eating in reverse, giving the appearance of attendees regurgitating their food for what was a segment that was equal parts disgusting and hysterical.

@br_openice

The Stars have a “Snackward” camera that shows people eating in reverse 🧐 😂 (Via TW/dalter) #hockey #hockeytiktoks #nhl #dallasstars #eating #eatingbackwards #camera #funny #fyp #fy #reaction

♬ original sound – BR_OpenIce

Too often, the game operations department relies on the fans to create amusing moments, whether it be through the ‘Kiss Cam’ or as part of their mugging for screen time. It isn’t easy to come up with humorous bits that are entirely family-friendly, but there have to be better options than the dream skit or having obviously staged “fans” over-act in bits that don’t come off as believable. And for as much as we all love Carlton the Bear, he isn’t exactly the mascot best known for bringing the comedy.

More Fun!

It’s not that the caliber of entertainment at Leafs’ games is sub-standard; in fact, the basic framework of their entertainment offerings (in-house DJ, giveaways, contests, on-ice graphics) seem to be in line with what many other NHL teams are doing. But there is the potential for so much more.

On one hand, you have elements they’ve incorporated in the past that seem to have fallen by the wayside. Goalie races at intermission were a popular staple of Maple Leafs entertainment packages for years, dating back to Maple Leaf Gardens. However, they were quietly shelved years ago and haven’t been brought back since. Nowadays, even an in-arena rendition of Stompin’ Tom Connors’ “The Hockey Song” is no longer a regular mainstay. Both of these segments were known to get the crowd going in the past.

There has been a distinct lack of Stompin’ Tom’s “Hockey Song” around Scotiabank Arena these days.

On the other hand, you have things that the Maple Leafs have the capacity to do to build excitement. The aforementioned on-ice graphics make for a cool game intro presentation, but are sparsely used otherwise. Sure, they have been used for a few fun intermission games, but those have been few and far between. Likewise, MLSE has a partnership with the digital trivia platform Kahoot, but have neglected to use what could be a fun activation for fans to showcase their hockey knowledge.

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To be clear, Toronto’s entertainment offerings aren’t without their merits. The presence of the giant Maple Leafs and Canadian flags drifting over the 100-level seating during “O Canada” makes for a spectacular visual (so long as you don’t think too much about how frequently – or infrequently – they’re probably cleaned). The t-shirt parachute drop in the third period gets fans going in a way that a simple t-shirt toss doesn’t. Occasional games like “Find Carlton” or the digital target shooting also offer welcome diversions during intermissions.

The problem, then, isn’t the creativity of the game operations department or their capacity to produce compelling in-game entertainment; it’s why that entertainment can’t be presented with more consistency. Too many intermissions feature little beyond DJ music and the in-arena hosts serving up sponsored, promotional messaging. While this would still be a satisfactory entertainment output for most franchises, MLSE simply has too many resources at its disposal to not offer full value to attending fans.

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