Connor McDavid broke an NHL record on Wednesday night. The Oilers shut out the Calgary Flames 4-0.
And the thing people kept talking about was the empty seats.
The announced crowd for the first Battle of Alberta of the season was 17,032, which is 1,315 below Rogers Place’s hockey capacity of 18,347. From the press box, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector estimated at least 1,500 seats sat empty.
Two seasons ago, every Battle of Alberta at Rogers Place sold out. Last season, the Oilers’ smallest home crowd all year was 17,496. Wednesday’s rivalry game drew 464 fewer than that.
McDavid passed Gretzky
On the ice, it was one of Edmonton’s best nights of the season.
McDavid had two assists, giving him at least one in each of the Oilers’ first 13 games. According to the NHL, that’s the longest season-opening assist streak in league history. He passed the 12-game mark shared by Wayne Gretzky, Ken Linseman and Sebastian Aho. He leads the NHL with 36 points.
Tristan Jarry stopped all 24 shots for his first shutout of the season. Mathieu Joseph, Mattias Ekholm, Kasperi Kapanen and Alex Formenton scored.
The Oilers are 9-2-2, with one of the best records in the league.
Even Calgary couldn’t fill the building
There was plenty to sell. The Oilers were rolling, McDavid was chasing history and the Flames came in on a four-game winning streak.
Based on the announced crowd, Rogers Place was about 92.8 per cent full. Announced attendance counts tickets distributed, not people in seats, so the real number of empty seats can run higher than the official gap.
The $10 deals haven’t moved the numbers
On Oct. 25, the Oilers added $10 parking at Arena North and a $10 T-shirt to their Decade Deals. The $10 burgers, Perogy Dogs and beer-and-hot-dog combos were already on the menu.
Two home games have been played since:
Monday vs. Detroit: 17,043
Wednesday vs. Calgary: 17,032
That’s a difference of 11 people, and both numbers match the Oct. 20 game against Minnesota, before the new deals existed.
Two games is too few to judge. But so far, there’s no sign of a bump.
Is an Oilers game just too expensive?
The $10 deals make it cheaper to eat and park once you’re inside. They don’t change the price of getting in.
The cheapest upper-bowl ticket at Rogers Place has a face value of $91.75. For a family of four, that’s $367 before fees, before anyone has parked, bought a drink or grabbed a hot dog. Fans have pointed to $20 beers and $30 parking. The new $10 Arena North spots are limited and first come, first served.
The resale market tells the same story. Before the Minnesota game, seats were listed for as little as $39, less than half the face value of the cheapest seat in the building. When resellers can’t move tickets at a fraction of face value, demand at full price is weak.
The Oilers have tried more than food deals. Over the summer, the team called and emailed season ticket holders who were thinking about walking away. It has also offered discounted tickets to Edmonton Minor Soccer families, a promotion that used to be reserved for Oil Kings games.
Demand hasn’t vanished. People still show up on Saturdays. What’s changed is that many fans now pick their games, and a Wednesday in October, even against Calgary, isn’t making the cut.
Eight home games, one clear pattern
| Date | Opponent | Attendance | Full |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue., Sept. 29 | Vancouver | 18,347 | 100% |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Seattle | 18,070 | 98.5% |
| Thu., Oct. 15 | Utah | 16,176 | 88.2% |
| Tue., Oct. 20 | Minnesota | 17,032 | 92.8% |
| Thu., Oct. 22 | Carolina | 16,420 | 89.5% |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Toronto | 18,347 | 100% |
| Mon., Oct. 26 | Detroit | 17,043 | 92.9% |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | Calgary | 17,032 | 92.8% |
The Oilers are averaging about 17,308 fans a night, or 94.3 per cent of capacity.
The split between weekends and weeknights stands out:
Both Saturday games drew more than 18,000, including a sellout against Toronto.
The five weeknight games since Oct. 15 have averaged 16,741, about 1,600 short of a full building.
The low point is still Oct. 15 against Utah: 16,176, the smallest Oilers crowd at Rogers Place since October 2022.
Winning hasn’t fixed it
The Oilers have been to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row. McDavid is off to one of the best starts of his career. The crowds are still down.
Fans keep pointing to the same things: ticket prices, the cost of a night out, late finishes on work nights, the hiring of coach Mike Babcock and the signing of Alex Formenton.
Formenton, who scored in the third period on Wednesday, was one of five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team charged in the Hockey Canada sexual assault case. All five were acquitted in 2025, and the NHL later cleared them to return. His signing in September prompted a petition with more than 70,000 signatures. Some fans have said it’s one reason they’re staying home, though there’s no way to measure how much it has affected crowds.
The Oilers haven’t said how many season ticket holders didn’t renew this year.
The next test
The Oilers head east to play the New York Islanders, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
They’re back at Rogers Place on Thursday, Nov. 5, against Anaheim, another weeknight game. After that, Vancouver visits on Saturday, Nov. 7, the Rangers on Monday, Nov. 9, and Philadelphia on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The Oilers have the wins, the star and the rivalry. What they don’t have is a full building every night.
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