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Edmonton Investors Group
The Edmonton Investors Group Limited Partnership (EIGLP) was the limited partnership that owned the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League. With more than thirty individual shareholders, EIGLP was the largest ownership group in the NHL. Among the four North American major sports leagues, only the Green Bay Packers have a larger ownership group.[citation needed]
The EIG were the key players for keeping the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada long term by purchasing the team from then-owner Peter Pocklington for C$107 million ($192 million in 2025 Canadian dollars) and preventing the team from being moved by being purchased for US$90 million ($178 million in 2025 American dollars) or C$127 million ($228 million in 2025 Canadian dollars).
In the mid-1990s, Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was in a precarious financial situation. Pocklington's main creditor, the Alberta Treasury Branches, were demanding repayment of millions of dollars' worth of loans that ATB had made to Pocklington in the 1980s and early 1990s. The once-popular Pocklington had a strained relationship with Edmontonians due in part to his decision to trade Wayne Gretzky as well as his other business and political dealings. As a result, attendance at Northlands Coliseum had declined – partly due to the team's declining on-ice fortunes but also due to personal animosity towards the owner.
This animosity hindered a 1996 season ticket drive that was needed to keep the team in Edmonton. It was largely due to the perseverance of future EIG partner Cal Nichols, that the Friends of the Oilers ticket drive ultimately expanded the season ticket base from a dismal 6,200 to over 13,400, enough to secure the team's future for the short term. However, it was increasingly obvious that Pocklington would not be around for the long term. In early 1997, Pocklington announced his intention to sell up to 45% of the team on the stock market. Pressure from ATB forced him to abandon this plan and put the team up for sale.
When the Oilers were put up for sale, many doubted whether a local ownership could be found and believed the proud franchise would be re-located to an American city as had happened with the teams in Quebec City in 1995 and Winnipeg in 1996. In 1997, the population of the Edmonton metropolitan area was still under one million, a figure viewed by many fans to be the minimum base a North American major sports team needs to be financially viable. With the only other former World Hockey Association team in Hartford re-locating in 1997, many analysts predicted that the "domino effect" would be completed in 1998 with the Oilers' move.
However, the terms of Pocklington's lease at what was then known as the Edmonton Coliseum prevented him from unilaterally moving the team or selling it to someone who intended to move it. It stipulated that an ownership group willing to keep the team in Edmonton would have six weeks from the time any such intention was declared to purchase the team for US$70 million. In addition, the ATB is a crown corporation owned by the Alberta government, though they treated the matter as non-political. While Alberta Premier Ralph Klein wanted to keep the Oilers in the capital, he was wary of a series of scandals involving favouritism at the ATB that had plagued his predecessor, Don Getty, in the 1980s. Klein was unwilling to make any move that might have been perceived by voters as government subsidization of a hockey club that paid multimillion-dollar salaries. However, when Klein's hometown Calgary Flames encountered financial difficulties in 2000, he immediately moved to assist them by creating a province-wide lottery.
Nichols, a prominent businessman in his own right, immediately began putting together an ownership group. At the time, the Albertan economy—driven by the oilpatch—was still recovering from price crashes in the 1980s and 1990s. Most Albertan investors preferred to commit their money to the re-emerging oilpatch, not a "small-market" hockey team. With no single Albertan magnate willing to commit C$100 million to purchase the team, Nichols instead decided to secure smaller investments from a larger number of investors to make up the aggregate total. Lenders were willing to finance 40% of the purchase price, meaning Nichols needed to come up with about C$60 million. Nichols had about C$35 million in investments when an offer of US$85 million (C$120 million) came from a buyer who wanted to move the team to Houston.
The Oilers' sale attracted interest in several American cities, and as Nichols was assembling a group of local investors, an offer of US$85 million (C$120 million) came from Leslie Alexander, a Houston-based businessman and an owner of the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets. Houston, whose application for an expansion team rejected by the league, was (and still is) the largest U.S. city without an NHL franchise. Alexander's original offer was to keep the team in Edmonton on the condition that the lease be terminated, attendance remained at acceptable levels, a local ownership group was eventually found and an expansion team be granted to Alexander in Houston. The Edmonton City Council rejected these terms, believing they gave Alexander too much discretion to move the Oilers to Texas. The city believed the lease they negotiated with Pocklington was still the best chance they had of keeping the team in Edmonton in the long term. Alexander then offered the ATB (which had the team in receivership by then) US$85 million (C$120 million) to purchase the team and move it to Houston, and submitted a US$5 million (C$7 million) deposit. Nichols was given until March 13, 1998 to match the deposit and commit to purchasing the team for US$70 million (C$100 million), or the lease would be automatically terminated and the team would move.
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Edmonton Investors Group
The Edmonton Investors Group Limited Partnership (EIGLP) was the limited partnership that owned the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League. With more than thirty individual shareholders, EIGLP was the largest ownership group in the NHL. Among the four North American major sports leagues, only the Green Bay Packers have a larger ownership group.[citation needed]
The EIG were the key players for keeping the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada long term by purchasing the team from then-owner Peter Pocklington for C$107 million ($192 million in 2025 Canadian dollars) and preventing the team from being moved by being purchased for US$90 million ($178 million in 2025 American dollars) or C$127 million ($228 million in 2025 Canadian dollars).
In the mid-1990s, Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was in a precarious financial situation. Pocklington's main creditor, the Alberta Treasury Branches, were demanding repayment of millions of dollars' worth of loans that ATB had made to Pocklington in the 1980s and early 1990s. The once-popular Pocklington had a strained relationship with Edmontonians due in part to his decision to trade Wayne Gretzky as well as his other business and political dealings. As a result, attendance at Northlands Coliseum had declined – partly due to the team's declining on-ice fortunes but also due to personal animosity towards the owner.
This animosity hindered a 1996 season ticket drive that was needed to keep the team in Edmonton. It was largely due to the perseverance of future EIG partner Cal Nichols, that the Friends of the Oilers ticket drive ultimately expanded the season ticket base from a dismal 6,200 to over 13,400, enough to secure the team's future for the short term. However, it was increasingly obvious that Pocklington would not be around for the long term. In early 1997, Pocklington announced his intention to sell up to 45% of the team on the stock market. Pressure from ATB forced him to abandon this plan and put the team up for sale.
When the Oilers were put up for sale, many doubted whether a local ownership could be found and believed the proud franchise would be re-located to an American city as had happened with the teams in Quebec City in 1995 and Winnipeg in 1996. In 1997, the population of the Edmonton metropolitan area was still under one million, a figure viewed by many fans to be the minimum base a North American major sports team needs to be financially viable. With the only other former World Hockey Association team in Hartford re-locating in 1997, many analysts predicted that the "domino effect" would be completed in 1998 with the Oilers' move.
However, the terms of Pocklington's lease at what was then known as the Edmonton Coliseum prevented him from unilaterally moving the team or selling it to someone who intended to move it. It stipulated that an ownership group willing to keep the team in Edmonton would have six weeks from the time any such intention was declared to purchase the team for US$70 million. In addition, the ATB is a crown corporation owned by the Alberta government, though they treated the matter as non-political. While Alberta Premier Ralph Klein wanted to keep the Oilers in the capital, he was wary of a series of scandals involving favouritism at the ATB that had plagued his predecessor, Don Getty, in the 1980s. Klein was unwilling to make any move that might have been perceived by voters as government subsidization of a hockey club that paid multimillion-dollar salaries. However, when Klein's hometown Calgary Flames encountered financial difficulties in 2000, he immediately moved to assist them by creating a province-wide lottery.
Nichols, a prominent businessman in his own right, immediately began putting together an ownership group. At the time, the Albertan economy—driven by the oilpatch—was still recovering from price crashes in the 1980s and 1990s. Most Albertan investors preferred to commit their money to the re-emerging oilpatch, not a "small-market" hockey team. With no single Albertan magnate willing to commit C$100 million to purchase the team, Nichols instead decided to secure smaller investments from a larger number of investors to make up the aggregate total. Lenders were willing to finance 40% of the purchase price, meaning Nichols needed to come up with about C$60 million. Nichols had about C$35 million in investments when an offer of US$85 million (C$120 million) came from a buyer who wanted to move the team to Houston.
The Oilers' sale attracted interest in several American cities, and as Nichols was assembling a group of local investors, an offer of US$85 million (C$120 million) came from Leslie Alexander, a Houston-based businessman and an owner of the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets. Houston, whose application for an expansion team rejected by the league, was (and still is) the largest U.S. city without an NHL franchise. Alexander's original offer was to keep the team in Edmonton on the condition that the lease be terminated, attendance remained at acceptable levels, a local ownership group was eventually found and an expansion team be granted to Alexander in Houston. The Edmonton City Council rejected these terms, believing they gave Alexander too much discretion to move the Oilers to Texas. The city believed the lease they negotiated with Pocklington was still the best chance they had of keeping the team in Edmonton in the long term. Alexander then offered the ATB (which had the team in receivership by then) US$85 million (C$120 million) to purchase the team and move it to Houston, and submitted a US$5 million (C$7 million) deposit. Nichols was given until March 13, 1998 to match the deposit and commit to purchasing the team for US$70 million (C$100 million), or the lease would be automatically terminated and the team would move.