[Thunderball]

Reality is, Calgary has pathetic sports facilities and is going to need ~$800m in facilities to catch up to Edmonton for pro and amateur sport and event facilities, let alone to surpass our mullet wielding friends in the north. Anyone thinking the public should pay nothing are kidding themselves. Anyone thinking the City/Province should pay it all are equally deluded. The reality is somewhere in between.

The Flames won't move, but lets face it, this is not Calgary circa 2006. This is a depressed Calgary with a lousy provincial government and is a much higher taxed place than it was in 2006, with no signs that we're getting back to the good ol' days any time soon... there are definitely equal or better markets now that will play ball (and no... Quebec is definitely not one of them) and we can't pretend that relocation is an idle threat.

At the end of the day I see it shaking down this way (after everyone puts their rulers away and gets to it):

New Arena: $400m (City portion $50-75m + using city loan facilities to get lower rates on ticket tax portion, Flames $325-350m ($175m + ticket tax))
McMahon Upgrade/Rebuild (including 1-2 years of temp stadium somewhere): $200m (City portion $140-150m, UofC $10-20m, Flames/Stamps: $30-50m (this is roughly in line with Winnipeg and Sask)
Fieldhouse/Mid-range UofC Soccer/Football/Track Facility: $200m (All public)