Two months have passed since the guided tours at Scotiabank Arena kicked off — and officials have been blown away by the response so far.
Tour guides with Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) have been welcoming the public inside the downtown venue and providing behind-the-scenes access that only a select few had seen prior to November.
The one-hour tours take fans inside the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors dressing rooms, as well as player hallways, courtside access, press row, executive suites, scoreboard control room and a variety of vantage points of the arena itself.
Tour guides also provide some history and fun facts about the Leafs and Raptors franchises, as well as the many concerts and other special events that have taken place since the building opened in February 1999.
In an email to TorontoToday, Fraser Gillan, the director of event experience at MLSE, said the organization couldn’t have asked for a better start to the program.
“Our debut month was completely sold out, and we have been seeing heightened interest ever since,” he wrote. “We are proud to provide a positive and unique experience to fans with both the tour experience and the tour guides themselves receiving strong reviews, with an overall satisfaction of 94% based on guest surveys.”
More than 3,000 people have taken the tour so far, according to Gillan. Visitors have included tourists, school groups, youth sports teams and other team supporters and fans.
TorontoToday joined one of the group tours on Tuesday — an experience that lasted 30 minutes longer than usual. Since neither the Leafs nor Raptors had home games that day, both dressing rooms, among other facilities, were available for viewing.
The Raptors locker room was among the highlights of the tour, as visitors could actually hold a pair of shoes once worn by former Raptor and NBA champion Marc Gasol. They were a modest size 17.
Inside the dressing room, current Raptors center Chris Boucher had six different pairs of shoes in his cubby alone.
Over in the Leafs dressing room, fans were eager to take pictures in front of Auston Matthews’ locker and No. 34 jersey.
Among them was London, Ont. resident George Stewart, who took his three sons Jude, Jacob and George to the tour on Tuesday. Huge supporters of the blue and white, the Stewart family said the experience is one they won’t forget.
“The arena, the history, the fanbase — it’s awesome,” Stewart said. “We really enjoyed it, and we might be back again.”
“We weren’t expecting to go that close to the basketball court,” Jude added. “Going into the dressing rooms was really fun, especially seeing Matthews’ jersey.”
Tickets for the tour cost $30 per person. Fans can book their spot through the Scotiabank Arena website.
Tickets are released on a three-week advance schedule while new slots are released every week. Tours are not available on concert nights and a team’s dressing room is not open on their respective game days.
While touring the space, attendees can also check out the latest in-venue transformations as part of the Scotiabank Arena Reimagination project — a $350 million renovation that began in 2024.
Among the arena’s significant renovations is the addition of new LED lighting, as well as a transformation of the 100 level concourse. New restaurants and other exclusive clubs will also be added into the venue.
Officials with Scotiabank Arena said the venue will continue to operate at full capacity as developments continue throughout the season.
