Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
Sorry, have to correct you. The Flames, just like the Oilers, were up against a wall. They were forced to watch star after star leave the city because of the poor deal they had with the city. Economics of the game had changed, and for the team to remain competitive a new deal had to be struck. They also went to the league and forced them to pony up, coming up with a scheme to help in the imbalance of the Canadian versus US dollar. This was all about survival of the team. They needed a new deal and marginal improvements. The city and league kicked in to make it work.
The current scenario is different, but similar. The economics of the game have changed, and this requires a new building. This is not about enriching billionaires, they can make their money elsewhere and with less hassle. This is about viability of the hockey team and making sure we don't have to go through another period of dark days, like the Young Guns era. The money made of the Flames is marginal. Most money goes right back into the club. That will probably continue.
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Give me a break - poor deal? The Flames have had the privilege of having zero building costs and no property taxes for decades. Sounds really bad for a corporation that should be injecting millions of tax dollars into the economy! The Flames owners dug their own graves in the 90's due to consistently icing a pathetic team long before the economics changed substantially. Flames fans stopped going to games because the team was gutted and mismanaged into oblivion. Now we have a franchise amongst the highest revenue generating teams in the league and we're supposed to buy the 'hang on' jargon.....no thanks. Calgary is not the small market that they'd lead you to believe.
Calgary can't even complete the latest transit line properly or finish a handful of overpasses on stoney trail due to funding gaps and we're supposed to pony up to these fatcats like they're the be all end all? It would sure be nice to be able to increase your franchise value substantially all the while barely dipping into your savings because you've duped the public into paying for a luxury building with tax dollars, ticket levies and cushy payback schemes no one else in the world has access to.
At this point, who's to say these weasels don't sell off the team they bought for pennies on the dollar decades ago and run for the hills 5 years after this all settles and we end up with another owner looking to move on to greener pastures?