The Calgary Flames’ 2023–24 season comes to a close tonight, and it’s been one to forget for most fans.
With the combination of multiple unrestricted free agents not wanting to re-sign with the team, subsequent trade speculation and execution throughout the season, and a rollercoaster performance on the ice from veterans and rookies, there has truly been too much to handle in the last few months.
Most of the time it’s sad when a season comes to an end, but with the past two years, it almost feels like a bit of a relief. Unfortunately for the Flames, that sentiment appears to be strong across the fanbase according to recent attendance report tracking:
Poor attendance in the Saddledome
Per a recent report from The Athletic, the Flames had the fourth worst attendance across the league at 90.1% on the season. The average attendance was 17,490 fans in the Saddledome, which hosts a capacity of 19,289. This puts them just above the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, and San Jose Sharks, which is not a great crowd to be in. The Anaheim Ducks, who had an even tougher season, had a higher percentage attendance at 91.3%.
Now out of these bottom five teams, the Flames had the highest average attendance in terms of absolute totals, but it’s still a worrisome signal to have them that low on the list. Especially when you consider the fact that teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers had higher percentages.
The Flames had their lowest home average attendance since the beginning of the salary cap era, which is astounding if you think about it. They also had the third largest dip in attendance between seasons at a loss of 466 fans on average.
A Sad dome
Despite the injection of youth, a change in hockey operations, and the promise of a new approach, the intermediary phase of the Flames wasn’t enough to get fans in their seats.
Which perhaps is the root cause here all along? Even going back ten years to the start of the 2014–15 season that would re-invigorate the team for a short while, the team has been operating in a mediocre setting. Not good enough to win, not bad enough to bottom out. I think after a while, the fans are tuning out more than they want to.
The end to this season has been almost unwatchable on television for most, and paying for tickets to go to the games may be low on the list of priorities.
It’s a concerning trend that hopefully doesn’t last long, but to change that the Flames organization needs to have a reason to get people into their seats. Superstars will do that, so here’s praying that the Flames get some lottery luck in a few weeks and that the end of the Saddledome era won’t be all sad.
