With the ongoing expansion of teams, and the worsening disadvantage small-market Canadian teams find themselves in, the Flames (and Jets, Senators, et) will have to find another driver of fan engagement besides building a championship calibre team. The odds are getting really, really long at this point.
English football teams who have little hope of winning a championship manage to sustain support through deep, multi-generational roots in the community, and a culture where winning a single game against a top team sparks delirious celebrations. Neither are applicable to the fanbases of small-market NHL teams.
But maybe broad-based fan engagement doesn’t much matter in an NHL where revenues are driven by corporate support. If 80 per cent of Calgarians don’t give a toss about the Flames, but corporate boxes continue selling out, are ownership and the board of governors really bothered?
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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