Jason Allatt, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer
October in Canada means the start of the greatest time of the year: hockey season. Hockey, and sport in general, is a fascinating extension of community: the community of fandom.
Canada has a unique part to play in this fandom. I would argue it is more than a fandom to a great swathe of Canadians. I would argue it is a part of our culture, and I believe even non-fans would find that hard to deny. With this kind of shared cultural touchstone comes a great sense of community, and that community creates a great atmosphere to welcome others into it.
I have been to every major North American sport live, and there is nothing like seeing a live hockey game (it’s not even close in my admittedly biased, Western Canadian opinion). That is the great side of fandom: the atmosphere. An absolutely frenetic feeling in the air, the constant rumble of cheers and, once that goal breaks through, the place comes unglued. Conversely, sitting in silence for 60 minutes watching your team get the breaks beaten off them is made better knowing that at least we are all suffering together.
It is a uniting experience and beautiful in a way. No matter what age or education or economic level, we can all share in the highs and lows of our team. I remember as a kid feeling like this wasn’t even a choice. You watch hockey, it’s just what you do. So pick a team, hook your wagon to that horse and enjoy the ride (it might be a bumpy road, but that only lasts about a decade . . .). As something so undeniably Canadian, we as viewers and fans are probably willing to take extra steps to support our team. Once you pull back that first layer, a very real picture comes into view: your passion is someone’s profit.
As a Canadian viewer, an extra step to watch your team is to subscribe to Sportsnet. In a country with supposed laws against monopolies, you have a single outlet to view the majority of games. And for the outlying minority of games, you can upgrade to Sportsnet+ (add more to your paid subscription), and you also have Amazon Prime (another paid subscription) or TSN (you guessed it, paid subscription). I live in Calgary, so if I want to watch a Calgary Flames game the same night the Edmonton Oilers are playing, guess which team gets priority? I have to pay an extra fee to watch my team in my hometown. The 25/26 NHL season premium package through Sportsnet has increased from $249.99 to $324.99 for the year, despite the platform losing other content and games to those previously mentioned other streaming companies.
The cost isn’t just digital. The Flames’ new arena is under construction to the tune of $1.22 billion. The city is paying 44% of that total ($537.3 million) the province is adding $330 million. What does ownership need to pay upfront? $40 million. Isn’t it funny how the billionaire-owned private sector pays the least but reaps the most benefit (fun fact, Flames owner Murray Edwards moved his primary address to London as to not be a Canadian taxpayer . . . you know, the people who are paying for his new playhouse)?
It’s a world of “crisis” (or so they tell me). There’s an economic crisis, a cost-of-living crisis, a housing crisis, an opioid crisis, and it’s all just spinning out of control. What can we do??? How can it be stopped??? And answers are not forthcoming. How is it that the city, the province and the country can snap its fingers and produce hundreds of millions to billions of dollars for a hockey rink, but affordable housing and reasonable grocery bills are unslayable dragons pillaging the country freely, like economics is some mythical beast us peasants simply can’t comprehend? I can comprehend greed.
Fandom is a wonderful thing that has the potential to bring so many different people together for shared joy and sense of community. But that love is currently being exploited (not just currently, publicly funded/privately owned NFL stadiums in the States have a long and rich historical tapestry of taxpayers being taken for a ride). They will point to the price of Sportsnet, they will point to subscriber numbers and say, “see? People are subscribing, so the price isn’t too high.” And like all things, the price next year will be higher, and the year after even higher, and on and on. That is what fandom is: an incomprehensible level of love for something that, at the end of the day, has no effect on us, and we have no effect on it. It is the willingness to weather the storm of billionaire greed and poor-quality streams, and licensing fees to buy season tickets and so many other hoops to jump through because we love this team so much. We love this team because it is part of our community, we are part of a community and we love being part of it.
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