Not sure if this has been posted but an interesting read:
"Burke hammered in on the old lie that building a stadium has any real economic impact on a city—
a lie disproven by every single study not funded and directed by teams looking for corporate handouts. And just get a load of the dripping condescension in “our little city.”
Quote:
“It’s discouraging when other venues cheerfully, willingly construct venues, hockey rinks in Manitoba, football stadiums in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, hockey arenas in Alberta, but our little city is a little smarter than all those people and we’re not going to do it.”
“[K]eep in mind we’re playing against teams in the U.S. that have their venues built for them almost 100 per cent cost and have favorable leases. It’s discouraging when you hear someone from the city say that we have zero economic impact. We think it’s hundreds of millions of dollars.”
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(It’s not.)
Canada has for the most part held out against the particularly American scam of blackmailing cities into paying for stadiums and arenas, but that’s changing. Edmonton’s and Quebec City’s new arenas were built with taxpayer money, and the Flames know which way the winds are blowing. There is no downside to them demanding every concession to make their private business more profitable—just as Calgary should continue to resist.
more:
http://deadspin.com/brian-burke-to-c...ium=socialflow