The Edmonton Oilers are the most profitable team in the NHL. On Thursday night, they drew their smallest Rogers Place crowd in nearly four years.
The team announced 16,176 fans for its 4-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth. Rogers Place holds 18,347 for hockey, so the crowd was 2,171 below capacity.
The last time fewer people watched the Oilers at home was Oct. 20, 2022, when 16,023 came out to see Carolina.
“Thought maybe people were just slow trickling in,” Tyler Yaremchuk of Daily Faceoff Edmonton posted from the rink. “But I can confidently say this is one of the poorest attended Oilers games I can remember in this rink. So many open seats.”
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How Thursday’s crowd compares
GameAnnounced attendanceOct. 20, 2022 vs. Carolina16,023Dec. 4, 2025 vs. Seattle (2025-26 low)17,496Sept. 29, 2026 vs. Vancouver18,347Oct. 3, 2026 vs. Seattle18,070Oct. 15, 2026 vs. Utah16,176
Thursday’s crowd was 1,320 smaller than the lowest crowd all of last season. In 2024-25, the Oilers sold out all 41 home games.
It didn’t come from a bad team. Edmonton went into Thursday on a five-game winning streak, and the loss was its first in regulation this season. Connor McDavid leads the NHL with 18 points.
Season ticket holders explain why they walked away
Jason Gregor, the Edmonton sports broadcaster, posted the attendance figure Thursday night along with a reason: “Ticket prices and playoff increases a factor for some season seat holders who didn’t renew.”
The next day, he added that many season seat holders “felt the playoff price hikes were gouging and no sign of thanks or loyalty.”
One of them replied. Dan Tencer, the former host of the Oilers postgame show on 630 CHED, said he gave up his seats.
He said his family absorbed the big price increase after the Oilers’ first Stanley Cup Final run. “The next big increase after the 2nd one… we tried it for a year… it was just too much.”
The playoffs themselves weren’t the deal-breaker. “The doubling out of the gate, 7x in Cup Final… it was a lot to stomach. But, I could always easily move them at cost if I didn’t go and it was playoffs. I accepted it.”
“Regular season cost was what pushed us out. Many late start times didn’t help.”
How Oilers season tickets work
To understand Tencer’s point, you need to know how the package works.
Season seat holders pay for all 41 regular-season home games. In return, they get first rights to the same seats in the playoffs, at playoff prices.
The Oilers’ own renewal FAQ lays out how that worked last spring. Holders had until April 8 to pick a playoff payment plan, either pay by round or pay in full. If they didn’t, their seats were released and sold to other fans. Once they picked a plan, they were locked in for every playoff game in their package, and they couldn’t cancel.
Money paid for games that were never played became account credit after the playoffs. Holders could put it toward next season’s seats or ask for a refund.
Edmonton went out to Anaheim in the first round. That meant anyone who paid in full had money for up to three more rounds sitting with the team until the season ended.
Playoff seats are easy to resell. Tencer’s problem was the 41 regular-season games, and Thursday shows why.
Resale seats for Tuesday start at $39
The Oilers host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. As of Sunday night, TickPick listed resale seats for that game starting at $39.
When a resale ticket sells for less than its face value, the person who bought the season seat takes the loss. That’s what Tencer described. It also means a fan who waits can often get in cheaper than a season ticket holder paid.
Oilers ranked as NHL’s most profitable team
The complaints about price come from fans of a team that is making a lot of money.
Forbes estimated in January that the Oilers earned US$244 million in operating income in 2024-25. That was the most in the NHL, and it tied Edmonton with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams for third among all sports teams in the world. Forbes valued the franchise at US$3.2 billion. Read more on the Oilers’ place among the world’s most profitable teams.
Forbes’ figures are estimates of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, not audited results. That season included a second straight run to the Stanley Cup Final. Tencer says that run came with the price increase he couldn’t keep paying.
Some Oilers fans also cite the Formenton signing
Price isn’t the only reason fans give for staying home.
In September, the Oilers signed Alex Formenton to a one-year, US$850,000 contract. Formenton was one of five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team charged with sexual assault in the Hockey Canada case. All five were acquitted in 2025, and the NHL reinstated them.
Mary Loewen, the superfan known as Mama Stanley for her sequined Stanley Cup costume, said she won’t cheer for the team as long as Formenton is signed. Read why Mama Stanley says she won’t cheer for the Oilers.
She started a Change.org petition the day after the signing. By Sept. 20 it had about 70,000 signatures, and dozens of protesters joined her outside Rogers Place before the first home preseason game. Read our coverage of the protest and petition.
The Oilers have said they signed Formenton after “a lengthy due diligence process.”
Nobody can say how many of Thursday’s empty seats come from price and how many from the signing. The season ticket holders who have spoken publicly about Thursday point to cost.
Will Oilers attendance rebound?
It’s not yet clear whether Thursday was a one-off. Utah is only in its third NHL season, it was a Thursday in mid-October, and the building was still 88% full.
The next three home games will tell more. Minnesota is Tuesday, Toronto is Oct. 24, and the Battle of Alberta against Calgary is Oct. 28. If there are empty seats against the Flames, it will be hard to blame the opponent.
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