[Senator Clay Davis]

Well one thing the Flames will benefit from for at least 10 more years is Rogers badly overpaying for the TV deal. So more money in their pocket from that then they could have gotten otherwise. Plus when the Flames are next up for their local deal (I think 2020), Rogers and TSN could get into a bidding war there that earns the Flames more money there too.

The salary cap helps a lot as well, since it should keep the Flames competitive at the top and not having to chase the Rangers or Leafs or Wings who in the past had the advantage of no cap and lots of money to get more players they wanted. So it's not like when Winnipeg bolted where they legitimately could not compete They need to give up on the fieldhouse as the Stamps new home, focus on the arena and getting strong support infrastructure from the city/province, and pay for the arena pretty much totally privately. I bet it's a much easier pitch to get money for support infrastructure than to pay for the building itself.