Most fans in Alberta? Oilers or Flames?

[FlamesAddiction]

If sports were like the music industry, the Oilers are like the "boy band" of sports franchises. Their popularity was manufactured from day one. The Flames are like an indie group that built a strong following organically over time and went through the trials and tribulations of a hard working band before establishing an extremely dedicated following. Backstreet Boys sold a hell of a lot more albums than the Pixies, but I know what fanbase I would be more proud to be part of.

[sharkov]

oilers fans because they migrate through the provinces like locust

[looooob]

Originally Posted by Infinit47

They were hours from losing the team at least twice. Once when there was a massive season ticket drive where the Real Canadian Superstore bought 1000 season tickets to save them and the second with the EIG where they were minutes from being sold to a Texan.

Oilers fans like to pretend they have never waivered in their support, but they have.

yeah I lived in EDM 91-95 and it was pretty bad then, went to a lot of games, sat wherever I wanted

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Flames are like the Sox, Mets, Angels. They have a die hard fan base but most "casual" fans in those areas are fans of the Cubs, Yanks and Dodgers. It's pretty rare to find a Flames fan outside of Calgary or southern alberta.

surprisingly, there seems to be way more flames fans here THAN ANY another team . tons of Alberta transplants here from all age groups . I've seen more Calgary swag here in the year of living here than Canucks swag . The biggest pub/Bar here is a Flames bar a lot of little bars here are also flames friendly .
Either they are from Southern Alberta or Sask or alot of young people that are from the island that chose to move to Calgary over Edmonton but returned later in life or a few years .

the opposite was true when I was young in Kamloops . most young people I knew moved to Edmonton over Calgary.

[dino7c]

whenever Oiler fans brag about having more fans I just say by that logic the Leafs are the best team in the NHL

really who cares, like someone said quality over quantity

[CGY12]

Edmonton probably has more fans, kids tend to jump on the bandwagon and cheer for the best teams at an early age (80s Oilers). They however are also more spread out and it probably seems a lot worse than it actually is, nobody wants to stay in that city past the teen years and end up moving here (the way better city).

[OminousFlames]

Doesn't really matter. Popularity doesn't win you championships. Just ask Leafs fans.

[Gaudfather]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

If sports were like the music industry, the Oilers are like the "boy band" of sports franchises. Their popularity was manufactured from day one. The Flames are like an indie group that built a strong following organically over time and went through the trials and tribulations of a hard working band before establishing an extremely dedicated following. Backstreet Boys sold a hell of a lot more albums than the Pixies, but I know what fanbase I would be more proud to be part of.

Or to put another way Oilers are K-Pop, Flames are - The Tragically Hip!

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Infinit47

They were hours from losing the team at least twice. Once when there was a massive season ticket drive where the Real Canadian Superstore bought 1000 season tickets to save them and the second with the EIG where they were minutes from being sold to a Texan.

Oilers fans like to pretend they have never waivered in their support, but they have.

Early to mid-90's Oilers attendance was absolutely putrid and much worse than the Flames even in the young guns era. The Flames played in a much larger arena so even the Flames lean years were close to sell out years in Northlands Coliseum. If you look at attendance over the years the Flames have always had better attendance and it's not even close.

https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attenda...h.php?tmi=5632

https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attenda...h.php?tmi=5090

[1qqaaz]

I believe the Oilers are more hated by the rest of the league. Around here in the Midwest, many people actively dislike the Oilers. They're usually either indifferent to, in in favor of, the Calgary Flames. I think this largely is a result of the obnoxious nature of Oiler fans, their lottery wins, the bad characters on their team, and their lame branding.

[tony-soprano]

Originally Posted by Jordan!

Calgary was a deeply Oilers town until 2004

Maybe before we had our own hockey team, but wouldn't surprise me if we had more leafs/habs fans.

[keenan87]

Definitely more Oilers fans I think. To be honest, I also think the average Oiler fan is more diehard than the average Flames fan.

[Red_Baron]

Better question, which team is hated by more fans?

Oilers by a huge margin.

[8sPOT]

I think the fact we will likely see more Oilers fans at the Dome than Flames fans at Rogers says it all.

Thats the only part I don't like, Oilers fans are willing to pay through the nose to come down to the Dome and make it less of a home game.

[tony-soprano]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

I think the fact we will likely see more Oilers fans at the Dome than Flames fans at Rogers says it all.

Thats the only part I don't like, Oilers fans are willing to pay through the nose to come down to the Dome and make it less of a home game.

Partially due to that they would rather live in Calgary, but still loyal to their team. Similar to Canucks and Leafs fans.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

I think the fact we will likely see more Oilers fans at the Dome than Flames fans at Rogers says it all.

Thats the only part I don't like, Oilers fans are willing to pay through the nose to come down to the Dome and make it less of a home game.

I don't think there are a ton of traveling fans. I think there is a huge chunk of local Oiler fans. Either transplants who moved for work, or people who grew up here but were fans from the 80s Oilers dynasty.


The series will be a slog, and I'm not thrilled about having 25-30% of the Dome be Oiler fans. I'm mostly worried about fan violence in and around the Dome though. I hope people can understand it's just a game, but the handful of times I've been to the Oiler rink and the regular season Oiler games at the Dome tell me that people sometimes fish for altercations.

[Steve Bozek]

When the Oilers started in the WHA, they were the Alberta Oilers, and I believe they even played some of their first season’s games in Calgary. When they stopped sharing games they changed the name to Edmonton Oilers, but Calgary didn’t have a WHA team until the Vancouver team became the Cowboys a few years later, and the Cowboys folded before the NHL decide to bring in the remains of the WHA.

The Oilers had a long time to build a fanbase throughout the province, and having the most exciting new player in the league (Gretzky) playing in the year prior to the Flames arrival undoubtedly cemented their fanbase outside Calgary (that’s probably why their fans are cement heads). Also, in the lean years (mid-late ‘90s) before Ken King arrived, the Flames didn’t cultivate support outside Calgary by community involvement in places like Letbridge, Medicine Hat, etc. the way the Oilers did in the more northern communities.

[troutman]

Which side is Red Deer on, the Oilers or the Flames? We speak with an Edmonton man who tried to figure it all out.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio...-deer-playoffs

[dino7c]

McDavid is certainly a major factor...especially with the SN propaganda

[expatflame]

As someone who hasn't lived in Alberta since the 80s, this is surprising to me. I always thought the majority were Flames fans and Oiler fans were mostly clustered in Edmonton.