The Flames are facing "dwindling ticket sales [that]
may be symptomatic of a bigger problem: a growing civic
discontent with the 19-year-old franchise that has owners
and team officials baffled," according to Charles Frank of
the CALGARY HERALD. With season-ticket sales down to
12,000, from 16,000 in '88-89, Flames execs suspect that
"the root of what appears to be a diminishing interest in
the team" is a combination of a "lackluster on-ice showing
of recent years" and "a pall of bad will generated by poorly
thought-out seating changes" at the Canadian Airlines
Saddledome after the '94-95 season. But the Flames'
financial statements suggest that while the team's "fortunes
have been extremely erratic, it is a long way from financial
insolvency." The team's financials were published in the
CALGARY HERALD and show that team revenues have grown from
C$23.6M in '88-89 to more than C$50M in '97-98. But while
the Flames earned approximately C$6.1M in profit during the
decade, they have lost money four of the past six years, and
"would show a net operating loss in each of the last six
years" without the NHL's currency-equalization plan.
Hotchkiss: "We're committed to staying here. Whether we can
do that, I don't know" (CALGARY HERALD, 6/20).
