Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy89
That article hits the mark in so many ways. Places like Regina and Edmonton garner a good portion of their sense of place around the Riders and the Oilers. Deep down they know a lot of the positive notoriety they get nationally and internationally are connected to these teams as opposed to other aspects of their cities. Therefore it's more of a political risk for their city councils to not bend over for these teams.
I laugh at the prospect of an NHL owner thinking they can do better than operate in Calgary with a new arena 1/3 paid for by the city in a place like Quebec City or as the 5th string pro sports drawn in a place like Seattle.
A Canadian market with a metro population of 1.5 million, with the largest amount of per capita disposable income in the country, with the second highest amount of corporate head offices in the country, and with no professional sports competition for the sports entertainment dollar is not only a viable NHL market, but a top tier NHL market. Calgarians know this, and they also have not built up enough nostalgia for a mediocre performing franchise to demand their city council pay up to keep this particular NHL franchise.
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Bang on and why threats to move are so disingenuous.