Quote:
Originally Posted by RM14
This situation is different than Islanders moving a couple counties over to Brooklyn. The fee for moving the Thrasher to Winnipeg involved a relocation fee. And recently, the NHL was fishing for a $500 million dollar expansion fee from Quebec. I can't see the NHL letting the Flames move to Quebec (or anywhere) for less than a few hundred million. Which is likely enough for the Flames to put into a new arena anyways. Another situation is the Flames owners sell to Quebec for net worth. But doesn't Gary Betman make sure to source for local owners before letting other cities come in? I think there a few wealthy people in Calgary who would buy the team first and then do what they had to do to get an arena built.
But in any case, I don't take Brian Burke very seriously at these events.
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Nonsense. There is nobody that would purchase a small market Canadian team at market value and then put up their own money to build an arena as that's as poor an investment as you could make and most of these people didn't get rich by making poor decisions. You aren't going to find many potential owners that would be satisfied with the current situation of owning a small market team in the oldest arena in the league (Madison Square Garden doesn't count). The people that buy these teams could find much, much more profitable ways to spend their money so you would have to find an extremely rich person that's willing to spend market value for the team and then fork over another $500 million for a new arena. Those type of billionaires are few and far between in NHL circles as those types of guys are more interested in the NFL and even at that NFL owners don't want to spend on their own stadiums.
It really is the reality that Flames owners really could find more lucrative ways to invest their money but they have decided to not only make the Flames a viable local business but also secure the Stampeders, Hitmen, and Roughnecks ensuring stable ownership for all Calgary sports franchises. It's not a right of Calgarians that they keep the team here or choose to own the team as they could sell to any number of goofball American millionaires that we have seen crash and burn with other franchises. Flames ownership is pretty respected in ownership circles so you can bet that any decisions they make will get full support from Bettman and Co.
I do agree with you about the Burke comment as I'm surprised so many fans are taking his comments seriously and running with it but that's kind of the way things work today on the internet.