Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
One thing incongruent about this argument, and maybe this is the wrong thread for it, is that as fans we are told time and again that owning a sports team is not a money maker. That rich owners don't own sports teams to make money.
We've also heard from Ken King that there are better places to make more moneythan in Calgary.
So then, at what point do arguments about rate of return or economic impact or NPV become moot?
If the owners are saying "Here is the business case for the arena" at the same time they are saying "if we applied a business case, we wouldn't own a sports team", how do they justify asking for public money at all?
Is the rationale here that the City should throw bad money after good towards a stadium because the Flames owners decided to make a bad investment in a sports team that doesn't make money?
What is the philosophical stand here, that because the flames owners generously agree to lose millions of dollars a year (in their words), that the city should pony up and do the same?
How can you have your cake and eat it too in this situation? Either the team makes money and there is economic incentive to build a new arena to improve revenue or the team doesn't and it makes no sense to build a new arena to improve revenue because the team doesn't make money anyway and these benevolent owners just like owning a sports team for the sake of it.
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I agree with some of that.
I think the "other places to make money" statement is silly. Sure they may be able to get a free building in Seattle, but where would Seattle rate in operating income once landed?
Maybe really high, but if that's the case given the climate there should be a lineup of 18 franchises looking to move there.
Chances are it's bottom 1/4 of the list and a terrible move for the ownership group as a whole.
So does Seattle buy the Flames and move them there? They could, but then they'd have to spend up to the half billion dollars to buy the team and then plug into a free arena with limited operating income.
Don't see that either.
I do however think the Flames ownership group from era to era have been a great custodian of hockey club through many ups and downs while funneling a lot of money to charity and not caring that they could have invested their money more wisely.