Quote:
Originally Posted by Cappy
Bettman "There is no basis for building under the current economic circumstances"
Who's F'ing fault is that. You are the Commissioner of the league that needs government subsidies to survive. That's on you, Gary.
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Not exclusively.
Bettman is simply following the North American professional sports playbook, which was written by decades of public money being funnelled to wealthy NFL and MLB teams as well as owners in the NHL and NBA.
It's the model that is broken. Calgary is the market showing the first crack, so it is no surprise that Bettmann is going to do his utmost to seal it in the short term. I have little doubt that this is the first domino of a wholesale change in how US and Canadian sports franchises conduct business. Expect an increase in hardball negotiations that see more cities calling the bluff of team owners who are looking for publicly funded, privately owned arenas.