Articles falsely claim massive donations from Canada for Texas flood victims
- Published on July 8, 2025 at 23:35
- 4 min read
- By Marisha GOLDHAMER, AFP Canada
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"Breaking News: The Oilers have used their NHL season bonus to donate $49 million to support victims and rescuers in the search and rescue efforts for those missing in the devastating flash floods in Texas," says July 6, 2025 Facebook post on "Oilers nations," a fan page for the Edmonton Oilers.
The same claim spread on other apparent NHL fan pages, while a similarly large donation was said to have been made by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Links in the comments lead to articles repeating the claims.
The articles surfaced after more than 100 people were killed as catastrophic floods swept through Texas in the early hours of July 4, 2025. The deceased include at least 27 girls and counselors who were staying at a youth summer camp on the Guadalupe River over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Volunteers on horseback and others with rescue dogs have been combing riverbanks alongside authorities in central Texas, searching for victims in Kerr County.
Texas sports teams including the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, and the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks have all pledged support for Central Texas.
But AFP found no evidence of donations from the Canadian hockey teams named in the posts and articles shared on social media.
The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation (EOFC) confirmed in a July 7, 2025 email that it did not make the donation reported online.
AFP did not receive a response to requests for comment from the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Foundation, but a review of its social media accounts and those for the Toronto Maple Leafs shows no announcement of any multi-million dollar donation to help survivors in Texas.
A donation around $50 million -- the size claimed by the Facebook pages -- would far outpace those typically made by the two franchises. According to an analysis by Charity Intelligence Canada, the biggest grant EOFC offered in fiscal year 2024 was $1.1 million to KidSport Canada to help fund access to hockey for more children (archived here).
The Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Foundation spent a total of $8 million on programs and grants in fiscal year 2023, the analysis found (archived here).
Suspicious pages, websites
Although the NHL-related Facebook pages list Canadian contact addresses, their page transparency details show they are largely managed from Vietnam.
Reviews other Facebook users have left on the "Oilers nations" page include warnings such as: "Every single article has been fake."
The articles cited as proof of the team's alleged donations appear on sites that are filled with advertisements, include some unusual characters in certain words and make clear errors in attribution.
The article claiming the Oilers donated $49 million quotes "Oilers' General Manager Ken Holland." But the current GM of the team is Stan Bowman (archived here). Bowman replaced Holland, who now works for the Los Angeles Kings, in July 2024 (archived here).
The fact-checking organization Lead Stories found additional false claims about donations to Texas victims from prominent Americans, including musicians Eminem and Jelly Roll, tennis star Coco Gauff and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady.
Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
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