Quote:
Originally Posted by Jer Bu
Is there a viable model - aka profitable - where the city would build the entire thing, and then collect revenues from the Flames (long term lease), food/booze sales, entertainment etc?
The city locks the flames in for 30 years at a fair rent, and then rents it out to all the great entertainment that will be coming to town once this thing is built?
Can this stadium end up being ACTUALLY profitable for the city, as opposed to trying to measure the value of arts and culture, and status, and all soft emotional stuff. Has building a new stadium ever been measurably profitable for a city or state?
Bu
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You can be profitable on a year to year basis, but likely not enough to cover the initial cash outlay if you aren't also the primary tenant.
EDIT:
I'll add to this since there is a ton of variables (as background i used to work in the finance department of the (likely most successful mid-size facility in Canada - not NHL sized so there could be variances that I missing). In most cases, you'd end up having to hire a company to manage the place. The city could try to do it themselves but that's a risky venture, those companies aren't cheap and will want a share of any profit.
You'd have to make the rent reasonable for the Flames, this is particularly a big issue in Calgary since the Flames and Hitman are owned by the same group and cover so many dates. They would get a share of all the in-building advertising and concession money. Big acts that come through aren't big money makers. The require a big guarantee to get them in the building and the union people who come in to do the set-up are not cheap.