IMO the Flames can play hardball on this as I think a new arena benefits the city just as much as the Flames. Without any proof I would guess that hockey fans living between Edmonton and Calgary that are fans of different teams go to watch their team play the Oilers in Edmonton rather than Calgary. Mcdavid could play a part in that but so does the arena. This and almost every concert skips Calgary these days for Edmonton. This is a ton of out of town money being spent in Edmonton over Calgary and this could be a trend in other areas outside of hockey/music industry.
I'm from Saskatchewan and any friends I have that are fans of other teams are driving to Edmonton these days over Calgary to watch their teams play.
How has it affected the Flames? They still charge crazy prices and have only seen a very slight dip in attendance. It's basically business as usual but its only been a year since Rogers Arena has been open so maybe the City needs another year to see the obvious trend to continue
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