THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

SHAMEometer rating out of 100:
94

Who:
For three years running in Forbes magazine, are the most valuable franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) at US $448 million. The Toronto Star reports that the hockey team's parent corporation, MLSE, is forecasting a profit of C$105 million by the year 2011 with ticket revenue expected to increase 30% to C$166 million. Yet, da Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 or come close. In fact, the Leafs have missed the playoffs entirely for the last three (almost four) seasons. Golf, anybody?

Shameless:
The blue-and-white are raking in the green by charging some of the highest ticket prices in the NHL, broadcasting exclusively some of its games on Leafs digital TV which means that fans have to pay to watch them lose in the comfort of their own homes; and hogging the national spotlight from other (read: better) Canadian teams.

Shameless Stat:
Last won the Stanley Cup in 1967 when The Beatles were still together, black-and-white TV was normal, and most of us weren't even conceived yet.


Financial & Psychological Analysis:

“The fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a bad hockey club is the inevitable by-product of the laws of economics. Their mediocrity is a design flaw, and it comes down to this: for any business to thrive, it must be obsessively focused on victory. Success must yield powerful benefits and failure must unleash harsh consequences. In the world's greatest market for pro hockey, that cost/benefit equation doesn't exist. A gusher of wealth, regardless of performance, has begat 40 years of infighting, a culture of laxity, and a refusal to admit the problem. The Leafs are a monopoly business that has been corrupted by its own market power.” - Steve Maich, Maclean's, April 2, 2008


Mitigating factor:
The Leafs couldn't have accomplished this alone: its fans. The “Leafs Nation” are either too loyal, too dumb and/or too desperate to abandon a mediocre team that's been taking them for a ride for 42 years (and counting).