The cost of being a winter sports fan of Toronto teams is going up.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will hike ticket prices for the Raptors and Maple Leafs by about 2.5 per cent across the board starting for the 2013-14 seasons.

Calling it a “cost of living” increase, MLSE president and chief operating officer Tom Anselmi said the cost hike reflects increased costs to the monolithic sports organization.

“Our costs have gone up dramatically,” he said in a telephone interview. “Players salaries, operating costs, league costs . . . in the case of the Raptors, our pricing has gone backwards in the last few years.”

Some season ticket holders received renewal invoices this week that reflected the increase.

“This is actually a little late for renewals to start,” he said. “We usually like to start our renewal process in February.”

Neither of the organization’s marquee teams are causing a price increase because of stellar play on the ice or the court. The Raptors seem headed to a fifth straight season without a post-season berth and they have been relatively successful compared to their hockey-playing cousins.

The last Maple Leafs playoff game was in the spring of 2004, before the NHL lost one entire season to an ownership-imposed lockout in 2005 and almost half of this season because of another lockout.

In 2011, the Raptors dropped lower bowl season seats by 5 to 30 per cent, while upper bowl tickets fell by 10 to 40 per cent.

“We just recognized then that our ticket prices had crept up,” said Anselmi.

Poll

The Leafs have about 16,000 season ticket holders and the Raptors have about 9,000. Both season tickets and single-game tickets will be affected by the pricing change.

The Leafs are one of most popular franchises in North American sports, playing to crowds that surpass capacity on a regular basis. According to league statistics, they average 19,370 fans per game, putting them fifth in the NHL.

The Raptors are 13th in attendance in the 30-team NBA, averaging 18,182 fans a game. They have had nine sellouts in 32 home games.

“Every year, you look . . . understand where you are, where you’ll be next and put it in a pot and stir it up,” said Anselmi.

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“We’ve been holding the line for a long time with the Raptors.”

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