Where Do the Calgary Flames Rank Among the NHL Teams with the Best-Selling Merchandise?

Among major North American sports leagues, NHL merchandise is widely recognized for its distinctive designs and strong fan appeal. Hockey jerseys boast the big team logo on the front, thick and comfy material, and often very striking colour schemes.

With there now being 32 teams in the NHL, fans have a whole host of great jerseys and other merchandise items to choose from. Recent NHL expansions have introduced teams with modern and appealing color schemes, such as the Seattle Kraken and Utah Mammoth.

However, merchandise from classic teams and historic eras continues to dominate sales. Fanatics has adjusted pricing since taking over merchandise distribution, here, we’re talking about the very highest end of merchandise with classic collectibles and their resale prices. In this regard, where do the Calgary Flames rank?

Grading the Teams with the Best-Selling Merch

There’s a non-stop flow of fans buying team merchandise. In the NHL, most seasons, the New York Rangers rank as the top-selling team. It’s a huge market, they’re a storied team, and their colour scheme is iconic. So, you can pick any modern year, like with this ESPN piece back in 2018, and you’ll usually see NYR atop the sales charts.

Even so, the real merchandise, the best-selling stuff that ends up fetching the most money can’t really be seen until much further down the line. As such, it can be very useful to examine factors like the number of collectibles being listed for sale, the teams that command the most cash for these sales, and the most valuable individual items.

It’s all of these elements that were researched by Betano when looking for the NHL teams with the best-selling merchandise. Among Canadian teams, the Montréal Canadiens ranked highest in merchandise sales. However, when you bring in sale prices and individual item values, the power of Wayne Gretzky with the Oilers couldn’t be matched.

So, where did the Calgary Flames and items from legends of the team rank? Of seven teams, the Flames landed sixth for the number of collectible merchandise items for sale. Calgary ranked fourth in terms of the highest price paid for individual collectibles. One of those was a $2,827 signed Pavel Bure stick.

What Makes for Mighty Merchandise Sales?

Four big factors seem to have the largest influence on merchandise sales. Those are: legendary players; a Stanley Cup win; a dynastic run of success; and lots of time having passed since the glory days. In 1989, the Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup, and the team has certainly been home to all-time greats since its inception in 1972.

However, that success pales in comparison to that of the Habs and 1980s Oilers, and the team’s age is also rather youthful compared to how long the Original Six has been around. Going forward, another Cup run and a sustained spell of success will be needed to make merchandise purchased over the coming years to be worth more cash.

Currently, Calgary sits near the bottom of several power rankings, including those published by Sportsnet. While the front office oversees the rebuild, fans will hope that a rookie card or signed jersey will belong to a future great of the NHL.