When Maple Leafs season-ticket holders open their renewal applications Thursday afternoon, they’ll notice a lower price.

It’s not an illusion, but it doesn’t mean tickets are getting cheaper.

In fact, the average per-game cost of Leaf season tickets will rise by two per cent.

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But with the World Cup of Hockey occupying the Air Canada Centre for part of the pre-season, and the Centennial Classic removing a regular-season game from the ACC, the Leafs’ season-ticket package is smaller than in previous years.

Those changes mean the price of the bundle will drop by 2.4 per cent compared with last year.

MLSE chief commercial officer Dave Hopkinson said the company didn’t want to compel season-ticket holders to buy tickets to pre-season games in far-flung places and added the Centennial Classic, scheduled for next Jan. 1 at BMO Field, changed the ticket price equation.

Like the NBA all-star game last month, next season’s outdoor game is league property, with the league controlling ticket inventory and reserving blocks of seats for its partners.

But unlike all-star weekend, where Raptors season-ticket holders weren’t guaranteed access to the main event, the Centennial Classic will make tickets available to every Leafs season-ticket holder.

“We actually have a lot more (ticket) inventory than we did with NBA all-star,” said Hopkinson, pointing out that BMO Field will be configured to seat 35,000 for outdoor hockey.

The Leafs sell about 16,500 season seats, Hopkinson said, with more than 99 per cent of customers renewing each year.

Raptors season seat renewal notices also are going out Thursday afternoon, with some ticket prices unchanged and others increasing by up to $15 a game, according to MLSE.

The Raptors sold out their entire inventory of 14,500 season seats last season; this year marks their first with a waiting list. Hopkinson said roughly 1,000 Raptors fans have paid a $100 deposit for the opportunity to buy seats when they become available.

“It really indicates where their popularity is as a franchise,” Hopkinson said. “It’s become a standing-room-only party.”