Will the Stamps keep ticking despite their 2002 licking?

Have the Eskimos put all their chips on Pringle?

Will the Flames continue to flicker and the Oil continue to gush?

Will the Trappers continue to find prey between their northern lines? And will the Outlaws get away with their diamond rush?

David Lazarowych file photo, Business Edge

Calgary Flames president Ken King says ticket sales are ahead of last year despite the team missing playoffs last season.

These are just a sample of the questions facing Albertas teams as they continue to battle tooth and nail for survival in the wild world of professional sports.

Epitomizing the turmoil on the local sports scene are the Canadian Football Leagues Calgary Stampeders, who are starting a new era: Life Without Wally.

As the Stampeders try to rebuild their team, which missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1988, theyre also trying to rebuild their season ticket base in wake of former general manager and coach Wally Buonos departure to the B.C. Lions.

Weve certainly felt his absence to date, said Ron Rooke, the Stampeders vice-president of marketing and communications.

According to recent figures provided by Rooke, the Canadian Football League clubs season ticket sales were down approximately 2,100 from last year  about a 10-per-cent decline.

But the Stamps are not the only ones hoping to win back the faithful.

The Edmonton Eskimos are trying to get through a post-Grey Cup hangover. The NHLs Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers will soon gear up for their season ticket drives. And the Edmonton Trappers of baseballs Pacific Coast League are hoping that Mother Nature provides many sunny days to make up for an ugly spring.

Buono guided the Stampeders to three Grey Cup victories in six appearances. Rooke said the controversy between Buono and new owner Michael Feterik between November and January, when Feterik badmouthed Buono as he attempted to get out of his Calgary contract, hampered ticket sales.

Although the arrival of new coach Jim Barker has been very positive, staunch Stamps fans appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to the new regime.

We are around 20,000 season tickets, so its not all gloom and doom, said Rooke. Any other club would love to be sitting where were sitting, but we are down 2,100.

Rooke attributed the season ticket decline to Buonos departure and the fact the team raised ticket prices for the first time in four years.

Buonos departure signalled the end of a love affair that started in the early 1990s, after the clubs existence was threatened.

The Stamps are banking on the likelihood that, even if they are pro-Buono, fans will still be attracted by the smell of burgers on the barbecue during tailgate parties, the touchdown horses romp along the sidelines, mini-footballs flung into the crowd and other fun features at games.

We sell experience, said Rooke. Its an experience to come to a football game. Its an experience that you can enjoy with fans of any age.

This season, if that experience turns sour, California-based owner Feterik and his hand-picked new GM Fred Fateri  whom some fans have dubbed F-Troop in reference to a sitcom about a sad-sack cavalry unit  will likely feel the fans wrath. But Rooke, who joined the team in 1991 from the now-defunct Calgary Cannons and recalled the days when his paycheque bounced, said fans should be thankful that Feterik has stabilized the club financially.

This is a very rich city, but when Mr. (Sig) Gutsche was looking to sell, Mr. Feterik was the only one willing to step forward, said Rooke.

Meanwhile, in Edmonton, the Eskimos are experiencing Life After Grey Cup.

You cant talk about how we did last year without factoring in Grey Cup, said Dave Jamieson, the Eskimos communications and marketing director. The Eskimos qualified for, and hosted, the championship game, losing to the Montreal Alouettes.

Thanks in no small part to Grey Cup, said Jamieson, the Esks made $158,000 in positive operating income, garnering $4 million in Grey Cup profits. A non-profit corporation, the Eskimos retained $500,000 and also deposited $3.5 million in their stabilization fund.

Its kind of a rainy-day fund, said Rick LeLacheur, the Eskimos chief operating officer, adding the money basically cant be touched without the approval of a separate committee that oversees it.

This year, the club hopes to net approximately $150,000 and approach last years 23,000 season ticket total. Jamieson said the team is nicely on pace toward 23,000 season tickets, but he declined to reveal current season ticket figures.

The club expects to sell fewer season tickets this year, because last year fans bought to get dibs on Grey Cup game seats. Still, weather permitting, attendance will likely be high at most games.

Last season, the Eskimos attendance averaged 37,655 per game while a playoff game against the Lions drew 34,322. The Grey Cup brought in 62,531 fans.

This season, second-year quarterback Ricky Ray and newly signed running back Mike Pringle, who is chasing George Reeds all-time rushing record, will lure more fans through the turnstiles.

But the club, realizing its never a safe bet to market players who are anxious to bolt to the National Football League, has developed a unique marketing theme for this season.

Defend the turf refers to both defending the Western Division championship and defending the natural-grass field that is unique to Edmontons Commonwealth Stadium.All other CFL clubs play on artificial surfaces.

Its our turf, said Jamieson. Our fans know it, feel it; our players know it, feel it. Its unique to us  and it says football. . . . Weve taken something that is unique about our team and our field and turned it into a rallying cry.

The Eskimos are reaching beyond city limits by sending goodwill missions to Yellowknife, Lloydminster, Edson, Jasper and other communities in their quest to attract new fans.

But the opponent closest to home  Calgary  will generate the biggest crowds.

The Labour Day Classic between the Stamps and Esks in Calgary already looks like it will be a sellout, while the return match on the following Friday night at Commonwealth may draw upward of 50,000 if the weather is nice. Last years Friday return contest drew 61,000-plus at Commonwealth.

We need them to be good and they need us to be good, said Jamieson. Theres room for two good football teams in this province.

There used to be room for two good baseball teams in the province, too. But the Calgary Cannons left town for Albuquerque after owner Russ Parker finally had enough of a Calgary city council that refused to fund a new ballpark to replace Burns Stadium, some sections of which are condemned.

As a result, the Edmonton Trappers no longer have a regional rival that can bolster attendance and help ease scheduling restraints for the Trappers, who are the Pacific Coast Leagues northernmost team. (The triple-A Vancouver Canadians also relocated, leaving a new Canadians team that plays in a lower league.) Consequently, said the Eskimos LeLacheur, who doubles as the Trappers chief operating officer, its not as easy for the Trappers to make a buck for a couple of reasons.

There is no rival, said LeLacheur, noting Edmontons closest rivals are Tacoma and Salt Lake City. The other (reason) is the travel. When we had Calgary in last year, the PCL were able to schedule a team to come up and play four games in Calgary and four games in Edmonton.

The Trappers have also been hurt by changes in U.S. flights coming into Edmonton from the U.S. Last year, we had to take a homestand and play it in Iowa City, said LeLacheur. That was very costly.

Still, the Trappers, who are owned by the Eskimos (thanks to their haul from the 1996 Grey Cup), expect to make a modest $20,000 in operating income this season. The baseball club drew 250,000 to 72 home games last year and expects to attract 300,000 this year.

But Glenn Dmetrichuk, general manager of the Calgary Outlaws in the new Canadian Baseball League, said that Edmontons days in the Pacific Coast League may be numbered.

Im not sure how long, personally, Edmonton can remain the only Canadian team in the PCL, said Dmetrichuk, who predicts that the Trappers may eventually join the Canadian Baseball League. Some people also question how long the Calgary Flames will remain in the National Hockey League. Flames president Ken King insisted theyll be in the league  and in Calgary  for many years to come.

But after struggling on the ice and missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season, the Flames will post losses of $6 millionto $7 million for 2002-03, said King. King said the club made material progress at the box office in the 2002-03 season, averaging 16,000 fans per game, and have already renewed about 50 per cent of 12,700 season tickets.

Were ahead of last year, he said. As a result, the Flames will likely qualify for $2.5 million from the NHL under its Canadian Currency Equalization Plan (CCEP), which is based on season ticket totals and/or financial results.

The often ballyhooed CCEP still only works out to the equivalent of a second-line centres salary. As King says, its only one piece of a complicated revenue puzzle. The next collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players Association, due to be implemented in 2004-05, will be much more important to the clubs bottom line.

Contending that negotiations are best kept private, King declined to discuss any suggestions that the team has directed at NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. But many fans have discussed  and questioned  Kings decision to fire general manager Craig Button and give new coach Darryl Sutter the added duties of GM. Many observers believe that the Flames, now with their fourth GM in the last 10 years, need stability more than anything. King said the team has heard from a small vocal group of fans that disagreed with the decision to fire Button, while others have praised the move.

We have had no backlash on that front, let me say that, said King. There are more changes to come. Sutter is looking for a new player- personnel director to help him with his general managers duties. (Former Flames star Lanny McDonald, who resigned from the Flames front office, will not be replaced.)

This summer, Sutter must also try to figure out what to do with 16 potential unrestricted free agents, including key core players Chris Drury and Robyn Regehr. The Oilers future  on and off the ice  appears more profitable. Edmonton had 30 sellouts last season and operated at 99-per-cent capacity. As a result, the team is also likely to qualify for CCEP in 2003-04.

Contract-wise, Edmontons negotiations with players are expected to be smoother than Calgarys in many cases because the Oilers boast a bevy of Alberta-born stars, including centre Mike Comrie, Banff native Ryan Smyth and Calgary native Jason Smith, the teams captain.

However, the future of coach Craig McTavish is uncertain after he declined to sign a contract extension. LeLacheur of the Eskimos and Trappers, who in his former role as chief of Economic Development Edmonton helped the Oilers find new ownership, said that the privately-owned club has turned the corner financially.

Its way more stable now. Theyre somewhat like the Flames, said LeLacheur, suggesting the teams have owners who are motivated more by helping the community than profits. But LeLacheur said the next collective bargaining agreement will likely still be pivotal to the Oilers future in Edmonton.

These people didnt invest to make money, he said.

But they didnt invest to lose a lot of money, either.