EDMONTON, Alberta — The financially fragile Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames will benefit from a new Alberta sports lottery starting next hockey season, the province announced Tuesday.
Details on what the lottery product will be haven’t been released, but both NHL teams can expect to share $2 million after prizes and expenses are met.
“The government of Alberta recognizes the importance of the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames to their communities,” said Gaming Minister Ron Stevens.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in New York earlier this month to pitch the lottery as a way of keeping Alberta’s NHL teams viable.
The Oilers and Flames have cooperated on proposing a 50-50 lottery, in which half of the total raised would go to a winner, with the other half split between the teams. But there was no word Tuesday on whether that was the plan that had been approved.
Officials from both teams have said they are under financial pressures because many of their costs, including players’ salaries, are paid out in U.S. dollars. The lottery will likely bring only slight relief, since the average salary of an NHL player is $1.4 million US.
