I'd be willing to get behind the Stamps getting some extra money from some level of gov't for a new stadium; as opposed to the Flames. Just some numbers I've crunched, based upon some of my best estimates. I went with estimates as opposed to numbers found online, as I think most of those are based on face value, and not what STHs actually pay.
Let's say the Flames currently average $100 per ticket. 19,000 tickets for 41 games per year is $77.9 M per year in ticket sales. A new arena at 18,000 seats, let's put the new average up to $150 per ticket. That not only factors in increases at all price levels, but also takes into consideration them increasing the number of premium seats (Club and box seats), and reducing the number of PL, Black and even Green seats. 41 games, 18,000 seats at $150 each brings in $110.7 M per year; or an increase of $32.8 M per year. Given a 30 year lifespan of a building, that is an increase of $984 M. Take in a building cost of $500 M, they still bring in an extra $484 million. That is without factoring in anything else like Hitmen, Roughnecks, extra concerts, more concessions, etc. Concessions are a big one, as with fewer lineups they can serve more people between periods.
In comparison if you have the Stamps bringing in $40 per ticket at 30,000 per game and 10 games per year. (Usually a playoff game.) That's $12 M per year. Do another 50% increase and $6 M per year, it would take 41 years to break even on a $250M stadium.
So getting back to a Flames arena, this is where I have a sticking point with them getting a publicly funded new building. A new building will bring them a crap-tonne of extra money, at my own personal expense of either much higher ticket prices, worse seats, or fewer games. So here's the deal:
- The Flames make a lot more money.
- I have to spend more to watch less hockey.
- My tax bill will increase.
They need to pick one. They cannot have all 3.
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