Are the Calgary Flames losing the next generation of fans in Alberta to the Edmonton Oilers?

[Da McBomb]

I wonder how many Flame fans who are parents tell their kids "You are not allowed to like McDavid!!" lol

 

[Steven Toast]

If we can't even hang on to an Iginla spawn's fandom we may very well be truly lost.
I blame Rogers for constantly shoving the McDynasty down everyone's throat.



Not really. Calgary 1.33 million pop, Edmonton just under a million at 981K.

And Vancouver is 650k right? City population is near useless for comparisons, look at metro pop. Both Edmonton and Calgary are about 1.6 million in size.

 

[Zenos]

If we can't even hang on to an Iginla spawn's fandom we may very well be truly lost.
I blame Rogers for constantly shoving the McDynasty down everyone's throat.



Not really. Calgary 1.33 million pop, Edmonton just under a million at 981K.

Not comparing metro populations is pretty disingenous (or at least wildly misleading).

Or do you also consider Cal, Edm, Winnipeg, and even Missisauga and Brampton to be larger cities than Vancouver?

 

[CF84]

The Oilers have always had more fans. The dominant fanbase if you will. That’s what happens when you have a great franchise vs. a mediocre one.

That sounds like something an elitist person from Shelbyville would say.

 

[Victor000]

The most diehard Flame fans are on a website called Calgarypuck, a forum where they spend the majority of their time hating on the Oilers. That should tell you all you need to know about these fans.

 

[CF84]

I wonder how many Flame fans who are parents tell their kids "You are not allowed to like McDavid!!" lol

My kids can cheer for whoever they want, but any clip of him speaking is more than enough.

 

[Pavel10]

I live in central Alberta. The kids here are mostly Oiler fans because of McDavid.

It's been like this for 40 years. Flames are literally referred to as "little brother".

And Vancouver is 650k right? City population is near useless for comparisons, look at metro pop. Both Edmonton and Calgary are about 1.6 million in size.

Yeah it's funny should be called the "Surrey Canucks" since the only people who apparently care and are overtly supporting the Canucks are fans from parties I see in Surrey.

 

[MS]

I mean, obviously McDavid is going to draw fans.

When he leaves in 2 years that organization will be straight back to total irrelevance.

 

[hypereconomist]

This can't be true, can it? Both cities have *reasonably* similar metro populations and similar rates of growth (Calgary cma = 1,665 Million, 1.8% growth vs Edmonton cma = 1,568 million, 1.65% growth). So I can't imagine that Calgary is receiving the lions' share of interprovincial migration. Who's moving to Edmonton then? Only other Albertans? International immigration? I remain sceptical, but welcome to be corrected.

And Calgary is indeed more costly (mostly due to real-estate), but salaries are also a tad higher. Real-life purchasing power is pretty similar between the two cities.

Based on the 2021 census, about one-third of Calgarians are immigrants vs a quarter of Edmontonians being immigrants. That 7-10% difference between the two cities is a sizable amount of people when you scale it to the total metro populations of both regions.

Alberta received 55k interprovincial migrants in 2023. Only 18,700 or a third of those migrants went to Edmonton. The numbers for Calgary aren't published anywhere, but there is also a GoA report from 2009 showing that roughly half of Alberta immigrants (as a whole) land in Calgary and a third land in Edmonton. I don't imagine that trend has changed much, if it at all, since then given the consistency of the population gap between the two metro regions throughout the years.

With respect to cost, most things cost roughly the same relative to salary differences between the two cities, but Edmonton is less expensive where it counts. A couple examples:
- housing is substantially less expensive. According to CREA and CREB, Edmonton's current median home price is $265k less (i.e. $726k in Calgary vs. $460k in Edmonton) and the median condo price is $154k less (i.e. $330k in Calgary vs $176k in Edmonton). Rental differences are less pronounced, but the difference is notable. The Calgary Herald had an article in February showing Calgary's average monthly rent for a two bedroom apartment as $2272 vs $1809 in Edmonton
- fuel is less expensive. Edmonton is currently around $1.36/L whereas Calgary is around $1.50/L (gasbuddy)
- food and groceries tend to be less expensive (no source besides Numbeo and anecdotal evidence)

Edmonton has always been a more affordable city to live in and the affordability gap between Edmonton and Calgary has been widening in recent years. With the increasingly tightening budgets and less dedicated fanbase, the Flames should be worried about waning fan support if they don't pick the slack and start winning soon.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Lmao!

I've lived in both Edmonton and Calgary (currently Calgary). OBVIOUSLY there are plenty of Oiler fans in Calgary, and Calgary fans in Edmonton. There are many transplants.

But Oilers growing significant base in Calgary / converting big numbers of existing Flames fans (or vice versa)? Hell would freeze over before that happened.

 

[Sky04]

Outside of 2004, the Flames don't have that much of a fanbase.

When I lived in Calgary, I attended tons of Canucks/Flames games and the Canucks fans would cheer the loudest against the Flames fanbase.

That maybe a curse for the ownership of the Flames, trying to get that hype of them so they can go on a long run to re-create that 2004 playoff run. Probably the only time the Flames, from across the nation had a country cheering for them.

That's completely false. Calgary home games are among the best in the league, you're clearly making stuff up, there's never been a single game where "Canucks fans" could "out cheer" a Flames home game. You were probably drunk with terrible perception. From 2011-2020 the Flames were top-10 in attendance every single year. The Canucks ranked below the Flames every single year except 1 during that period and have only picked up recently, you can really tell which fanbase has the loyal followers compared to the bandwagoners.



Lets pretend the 100 Canucks fans in that arena were louder than the other 19000. Flames playoff tickets have always shot through the roof, as par for the course for any Canadian city outside of Winnipeg.

 

[Zenos]

Based on the 2021 census, about one-third of Calgarians are immigrants vs a quarter of Edmontonians being immigrants. That 7-10% difference between the two cities is a sizable amount of people when you scale it to the total metro populations of both regions.

Alberta received 55k interprovincial migrants in 2023. Only 18,700 or a third of those migrants went to Edmonton. The numbers for Calgary aren't published anywhere, but there is also a GoA report from 2009 showing that roughly half of Alberta immigrants (as a whole) land in Calgary and a third land in Edmonton. I don't imagine that trend has changed much, if it at all, since then given the consistency of the population gap between the two metro regions throughout the years.

Thanks for the deeper-dive on the migration figures.

Still, I wonder how the two metros can have pretty similar populations and growth rates with one city taking in the majority of migrants both internationally and interprovincially.
Again, I wonder where all of Edmonton's population growth is coming from then if this is the case?

Or are Calgarians moving to Edmonton? And they're being replaced in Calgary by Ontarians and people from outside Canda

 

[ManofSteel55]

It's been like this for 40 years. Flames are literally referred to as "little brother".


Yeah it's funny should be called the "Surrey Canucks" since the only people who apparently care and are overtly supporting the Canucks are fans from parties I see in Surrey.

No it hasn't.

It was hard to be an Oiler fan in central Alberta during the decade of darkness. I'm not sure if you don't live here or what but don't project. We only started getting a lot of the kids back when McDavid arrived.

 

[snag]

It's been like this for 40 years. Flames are literally referred to as "little brother".

In my 47 years, this is literally the first time I ever heard this.

 

[hypereconomist]

Thanks for the deeper-dive on the migration figures.

Still, I wonder how the two metros can have pretty similar populations and growth rates with one city taking in the majority of migrants both internationally and interprovincially.
Again, I wonder where all of Edmonton's population growth is coming from then if this is the case?

Or are Calgarians moving to Edmonton? And they're being replaced in Calgary by Ontarians and people from outside Canda

Calgary takes in more international and interprovincial immigrants, but it also loses more people. Edmonton is less transient than Calgary and retains a considerably higher percentage of its immigrants. The last census had Calgary around 70% compared to Edmonton's 85%. That's probably a big factor in why the population gap is consistent between the two cities.

Anecdotally, it seems like Edmonton also gets more intraprovincial migration from Grand Prairie, Fort Mac, Red Deer, and the other parts of north and central Alberta for various reasons (education, job opportunities, or big city amenities), whereas southern Alberta has Lethbridge as a decent big city alternative with a reputable research university.

 

[EpochLink]

That's completely false. Calgary home games are among the best in the league, you're clearly making stuff up, there's never been a single game where "Canucks fans" could "out cheer" a Flames home game. You were probably drunk with terrible perception. From 2011-2020 the Flames were top-10 in attendance every single year. The Canucks ranked below the Flames every single year except 1 during that period and have only picked up recently, you can really tell which fanbase has the loyal followers compared to the bandwagoners.



Lets pretend the 100 Canucks fans in that arena were louder than the other 19000. Flames playoff tickets have always shot through the roof, as par for the course for any Canadian city outside of Winnipeg.

Don’t matter to me anymore, I haven’t lived there in over 14 years and don’t plan on living there in the near future.

The most enjoyment I had there was Marlborough Mall.

 

[Sky04]

Don’t matter to me anymore, I haven’t lived there in over 14 years and don’t plan on living there in the near future.

The most enjoyment I had there was Marlborough Mall.

That says more about you then anything else.

 

[NVious]

Calgary just needs to follow the Edmonton model and draft the greatest players of all time

 

[EpochLink]

That says more about you then anything else.

Yup, Marlborough Mall was the shits

 

[Volica]

I’m raising my kids as Flames fans, but it’s a a tough, frustrating and lonely path.

I can see why a 8 year old would like Edmonton, they’re a lot of flash.

 

[Volica]

Anecdotally, it seems like Edmonton also gets more intraprovincial migration from Grand Prairie, Fort Mac, Red Deer, and the other parts of north and central Alberta for various reasons (education, job opportunities, or big city amenities), whereas southern Alberta has Lethbridge as a decent big city alternative with a reputable research university.

If you know anything about Alberta; the first point here tells a compelling story if you’ve ever had significant interactions with Oil fans.

Just a note, Lethbridge proper is a dangerous shit hole in terms of Canada standards. There are few and far that seek it out. U of L is a hub for teachers and nurses, and West Lethbridge is quite nice. A quick and dirty way is pull up realtor.ca and look at the cost difference between living East or West of Old Man.

 

[snag]

If you know anything about Alberta; the first point here tells a compelling story if you’ve ever had significant interactions with Oil fans.

Just a note, Lethbridge proper is a dangerous shit hole in terms of Canada standards. There are few and far that seek it out. U of L is a hub for teachers and nurses, and West Lethbridge is quite nice. A quick and dirty way is pull up realtor.ca and look at the cost difference between living East or West of Old Man.

I have lived here my whole life......so please....do tell. I love compelling stories.

And ftr, I lived in Calgary for a number of years as an Oilers fan and have my share of stories too. Not any I would use to categorically define an entire fanbase of though.

 

[Pavel10]

In my 47 years, this is literally the first time I ever heard this.

Heres a recent article.

Flames More of a Little Brother Than Rival to Oilers - The Hockey Writers Latest News, Analysis & More

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames yet again on Saturday, as they continue to own the Battle of Alberta.

thehockeywriters.com

Oldie here too. I remember when they won in 89 as a kid. Everyone joked "little brother finally won one."

No it hasn't.

It was hard to be an Oiler fan in central Alberta during the decade of darkness. I'm not sure if you don't live here or what but don't project. We only started getting a lot of the kids back when McDavid arrived.

It's not like flames had amazing teams during those bad oiler stretches. It went Gretzky glory years, weight /gurien rage against the money machine / decade darkness/ mcdavid era

 

[snag]

Yup, Marlborough Mall was the shits

Sunridge at least had a good arcade in the 90s. But Marlborough....rofl.

I made the mistake of renting a place in Forest Lawn back then. I drove my wife through there a couple years ago and showed her the old place. Despite it being like 12 years before we met, I think it affected our marriage knowing I lived there LOL