This is cringe’: Edmonton Oilers fans outraged about gambling company logo on front of team jerseys
This in from the Edmonton Oilers, news that they will have a “Play Alberta” logo on their hockey jerseys this season. PlayAlberta is the Alberta government’s sports betting corporation.
In a press release, the Oilers said: “The deal will see the Play Alberta logo featured prominently on the Oilers home jerseys and GameSense, AGLC’s responsible gambling program, displayed on the helmets of the Oilers for each home game. PlayAlberta.ca is a leader in the iGaming landscape in the province. All money generated through the site goes to the General Revenue Fund, which supports programs and services that Albertans rely on every day. In addition,
the website has integrated AGLC’s GameSense and Self-Exclusion programs to better support players in their gambling journey. This past year, PlayAlberta.ca generated $235 million in net sales, an increase of more than $42 million from 2022-23. That number contributes to the $1.5 billion in total gaming revenue that’s sent to Alberta’s General Revenue Fund and supports programs and services that Albertans rely on every day.”
Stan Bowman thinks the Blues paid too much for Holloway and Broberg
The Oilers lost two players to the Blues this summer. St. Louis won their bid with two hostile offers for the services of Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg.
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman had the opportunity to match the offers, which would have weighed approximately $4.58 million and $2.29 million on the team’s payroll, but decided against it.
This time, he told The Athletic’ s Pierre LeBrun that he believes the contracts offered to Broberg and Holloway will cost the Blues far too much.
In fact, Bowman doesn’t think these players deserve such salaries yet, and he’s right!
Broberg has yet to play 82 NHL games, and his new contract will cost the Blues about $4.58 million. He’s playing well, but he’s far from turning heads.
What’s even crazier is that this offer comes after he played 49 games in the AHL last season.
Had the Oilers agreed to match the offer, Broberg would have been paid more than the team’s top defenseman, Evan Bouchard ($3.5 million).
On the other hand, the offer for Holloway made a little more sense at around $2.29 million per season, but it was still too expensive for a team with title aspirations that counts its pennies.
For the Blues, these contracts were probably a way of forcing their hands on these players. They will cost the team dearly in the early years, but they are now the property of St. Louis.
We’re still talking about two players selected in the top-15 of their draft year.
The problem for the Oilers in this situation is that they looked like an organization that negotiates poorly with its players. Bowman believes he made good offers to his former players, but had no intention of overpaying.
The contracts offered by the Oilers would have been $1.1 million per season for Broberg and $1.05 million per year for Holloway.