Coming out of Covid, attendance at the Dome was down. Even with a good product on the ice for the 2021-2022 season only had one or two sellouts after seat restrictions were lifted. Lack of attendance continued in this past 2022-2023 season.
League wide viewership is also down 22%.
Murray is a smart businessman. Did he maybe recognize that the way people are viewing the game and pro sports in general as well as youth today are not as interested in Pro sports as generations past help him change his mind in investing in a new building?
Calgary still ranked 14th in average attendance out of the 32 teams, with a crappy building and a crappy product this year.I think chances of the Flames moving are very slim and anything that Murray or Bettman says would be negotiating tactic. Owners get money when a new franchise enters, they don't get money if a team moves. The NHLPA is also happier with new teams as that means 23 more players in the union.
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