by Lincoln Hay

Created on: August 24, 2010

It’s ubiquitous: in the Edmonton Journal, on Overtime Open Line on 630 CHED, it’s even on urbandictionary.com.  Ladies and gentlemen, as it stands now, let’s be frank: the Edmonton Oilers suck.  During the 2009-2010 season, they finished in last place in the NHL.  Why is this?  Many people have their own opinions, some say it’s the coach, some say it’s the players, some say it’s the general manager, but I would like to instead of focussing on why they are terrible, focus on how the losing ways of the Edmonton Oilers affect our society.

To start, people don’t want to pay to see a team lose, because losing isn’t fun.  A fan pays to see a performance; that’s the basis of all professional sports, and they expect to see a good performance.  Not many people would want to pay top dollar to see a play with a terrible plot line, terrible actors and terrible props, would they?  No, because it would be a bad performance, yet Oilers fans have continued to go to the games.  Why?  Let’s think of the atmosphere at Rexall Place: the cheering when the Oilers score, the people in the next seat you talk to, and mainly, who could forget the concession?  The salted sticks of fries, the sweet soft drinks, the juicy hot dogs, the concession is one of the main ways the Oilers make money.  But don’t leave out souvenirs either.  People are willing to pay more than normal for clothing due to the copyright costs of embroidering the Oilers logo on their apparel.  So let’s take an average night at an Oilers game in 2008 according to teammarketing.com, an American site with figures in US dollars.  Say a family of four, two adults and two kids went to see a game, and bought tickets at the average price of 54 dollars and 17 cents, totaling to 216 dollars and 68 cents.  Then when they went to the game, they had to pay 10 dollars and 45 cents for parking.  After the first period, they might want some food and drinks, so they buy 4 small soft drinks at $3.48 each and 4 hot dogs also at $3.48 each, totaling $27.84.  After the second period, the parents say, “I paid 216 dollars and 68 cents for these seats and we’re down 5-1!  I need a drink...”, so they bought 2 beers totaling $13.50.  After the game, they say, “Hey kids, maybe a souvenir cap will cheer you up.” and another $26.14 is spent.

So what

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