[Nacre]

As a Seattle resident and former Sonics fan who lost him team and does not want to steal another city's team, I thought I would post a couple of thoughts.

1. Flames fans will be totally OK if the Flames leave.
When the Sonics left Seattle I switched my basketball purchases for ice hockey. I now have a season ticket package for the WHL Everett Silvertips with money left over. Other people in Seattle started going to Major League Soccer games, and Seattle now averages higher attendance than many of the big European teams.

I doubt the Flames will leave Calgary. But if they do you will find other things to do with your pocket money. A surplus of disposable income to spend on entertainment is never going to be a problem in a major city like Calgary.

2. Calgary will be totally OK if the Flames leave.
When the Sonics left Seattle, Key Arena went from making a loss to a profit because the team had to pay off the remaining debt on the arena. The arena now has no anchor tenant and hosts smaller events like our music festival (Bumbershoot), the WNBA, college basketball, exhibitions like Roger Federer vs John Isner, and concerts. But it does so at a profit, whereas it was forced to eat a loss when the Sonics were here and would have lost even more money with a publicly funded arena.

Again I doubt the Flames will leave your city. But if they do then Calgary should be able to operate the Saddledome at a profit. That's because NBA and NHL teams (including the Flames) usually have better deals that the smaller acts like concerts that they displace. Calgary ought to be able to get more tax revenue from non-NHL events at the Saddledome.

EDIT: I forgot to add a third issue . . .

3. The Flames are only likely to move if they get bought out.
Seattle loved the Sonics and years after they left the team was still selling more merchandise than a handful of active teams in the NBA. Oklahoma has done a good job of supporting the relocated Thunder, but the team has still lost a lot of money from the move.

The Sonics/Thunder moved because they were purchased by an Oklahoma ownership group that wanted a team in their hometown more than they cared about making money.

I think the same thing is true for the Flames. Calgarians provide the Flames with more support than they would get in any American city. The team is only likely to relocate to Seattle if they are first purchased by a Seattle-based ownership group that cares more about owning a team in Seattle than in having a stable and profitable NHL franchise.