A few hundred mill? Chump change. Did you even read the CalgaryNEXT proposal?
They asked for what could conceivably be one of the single largest public investments for a private facility in history.
Man...oh...if the deal was $100M for a hockey arena somewhere this probably would have been done by now.
Educate yourself on the actual ask.
In the grand scheme of things hockey arenas are rather cheap, coming in at around $400M or so. Most of the individual Flames owners could fairly comfortably cut a cheque for that, collectively no problem.
But they didnt get rich by writing a lot of cheques.
Yes, they sure did get rich by writing a lot of cheques. I think that's kind of the point - people think they should support and build the Flames business like they do their other businesses. And that certainly involves writing a lot of cheques.
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They didn't. The interview was on Wednesday. CBC posted the story today for some reason.
maybe CBC couldn't believe what they were hearing from King was anything but an April fools joke?
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The Delhi police have announced the formation of a crack team dedicated to nabbing the elusive 'Monkey Man' and offered a reward for his -- or its -- capture.
Tone deaf to the extreme. The fact that the public face of a professional sports team could use the visit to a dying woman as part of a push to get arena money is ####ing unbelievable. I just can't fathom how someone is unable to see how crass that is before opening his mouth.
To the people Ken is usually glad handing and opinion swaying, it's not that absurd. He's out of his element in my opinion, when making statements to/for the public and Flames ownership should've probably realized this before having him parade out this joke concept.
A concept that I will point out where the CSEC has been dishonest in their admissions to date about their inclusivity with the City as well as attempting to frame the city as supportive in their consultations and interactions with the public, including their promotional videos with prominent members of the Calgary business community.
I've lost a huge amount of respect for the organization for how they've handled this and their attempts to beguile and misrepresent their way to what is effectively a MASSIVE public subsidy of a thriving private enterprise.
It does make me consider that some members of Flames ownership may be interested in selling the team, attempting to capitalize on their good will to increase the sale price of a profitable, seemingly successful club with a brand new arena.
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Has King ever left the comfort of the fan960 to discuss CalgaryNext? Rob Kerr was basically hand job'ing King and it'd be interesting to see Ken go up against someone on the radio that would challenge him like CBC's David Gray.
I'd love to listen to King being interviewed by a professional journalist who asks tough questions, like David Gray.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nik-
Tone deaf to the extreme. The fact that the public face of a professional sports team could use the visit to a dying woman as part of a push to get arena money is ####ing unbelievable. I just can't fathom how someone is unable to see how crass that is before opening his mouth.
I suspect he has a pretty low opinion of the intelligence of the average Calgarian. He used to be the publisher of the Calgary Sun, after all.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
People don't over react to this comment...King King isn't the most well spoken man in the world and its not unreasonable to state the team needs a new arena or else there is no point to stay.
We have the oldest arena in the league and a new arena will do wonders for the economy and overall vibrancy of the city. Why would you stay in a city that had such short sighted vision?
Yes the economy has been in the crapper but all that sounds like to me is an opportunity to build this thing when it might not cost as much because contractors will make more reasonable bids in order to win the work.
Building a new area will allow more musical artists to come here too. I heard a stat that Garth Brooks concert brought in like $44 million dollars into the Edmonton economy.
This deal will get done and the Flames, in reality, are in no threat of leaving. All the guy is saying is the Flames will be forced to leave if no arena is built.
Ken Kings comment means nothing so there is no need to get worked up about it.
People don't over react to this comment...King King isn't the most well spoken man in the world and its not unreasonable to state the team needs a new arena or else there is no point to stay.
We have the oldest arena in the league and a new arena will do wonders for the economy and overall vibrancy of the city. Why would you stay in a city that had such short sighted vision?
Yes the economy has been in the crapper but all that sounds like to me is an opportunity to build this thing when it might not cost as much because contractors will make more reasonable bids in order to win the work.
Building a new area will allow more musical artists to come here too. I heard a stat that Garth Brooks concert brought in like $44 million dollars into the Edmonton economy.
This deal will get done and the Flames, in reality, are in no threat of leaving. All the guy is saying is the Flames will be forced to leave if no arena is built.
Ken Kings comment means nothing so there is no need to get worked up about it.
Checked all the bullet points.
- Economy
- "Forced" to leave
- Vibrancy
- Vision
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Fire this guy. His initial proposal (and powerpoint) should have been a fireable offense. His handling of Sutter was depressing. He's the weakest link of the flames organization as far as I'm concerned
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I'm surprised at the outrage over what should be obvious. The Flames need a new arena within the next 10-15 years or so to remain a viable franchise. As will the Stampeders need a stadium. Of course they will move if this city lacks a suitable facility - even with all of the fan support in the world, playing in a dilapidated building isn't financially sustainable.
They've been trying to get public dollars for nigh on ten years now and they're basically no further ahead. Nenshi's latest missive went back to the public benefit phrasing. That's a step back for the Flames.
So yeah, they're desperate. This is a desperation move. It's not going to work. I think that you'll see some pretty big movement on Plan B once that becomes clear.
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I'm surprised at the outrage over what should be obvious. The Flames need a new arena within the next 10-15 years or so to remain a viable franchise. As will the Stampeders need a stadium. Of course they will move if this city lacks a suitable facility - even with all of the fan support in the world, playing in a dilapidated building isn't financially sustainable.
Outrage and surprise don't need to be married really. Outrage is fine, but people shouldn't be surprised. This is standard new arena/stadium playbook and it happens in every city.
I think some people figured that our team was above these type of tactics. Personally I lost that feeling long ago, but I once hoped they were too.
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Seattle is still looking at a new arena. If they get one built in the next few years the city I could see that as the market the Flames owners would want to move to seeing it's still in the west and close proximity to Vancouver. If Seattle gets this done look out as I don't think the threats would be empty at all.
Even if they were gifted an arena, I doubt they make as much money as they would in Calgary. Seahawks are gods to those people, and when the Mariners are doing well, it's a baseball town.
The timing of it is brutal too. How about let us enjoy making the playoffs? Nope! Gotta milk that too
To be fair, the interview was earlier in the week. As far as letting us enjoy the playoffs, they want to put this stuff out there when emotion around the team is high. The CalgaryNext proposal was released shortly after the playoff run which followed a long drought. It's purposeful.
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Even if they were gifted an arena, I doubt they make as much money as they would in Calgary. Seahawks are gods to those people, and when the Mariners are doing well, it's a baseball town.
They'd be behind the Sounders too.
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Even if they were gifted an arena, I doubt they make as much money as they would in Calgary. Seahawks are gods to those people, and when the Mariners are doing well, it's a baseball town.
I agree and the arena proposal is for NBA first. NBA and NHL seasons are pretty much at the same time Sonics are huge to Seattle. Any NHL team would play second fiddle.
