Hey, I want to open up a business. I hope the city fronts me most of the cash, while I reap all the rewards. Heck, I won't even charge people for entering the premises either!
Sorry, the above is a bit cheeky, but it holds water. The ownership group wants a tonne of public funds to build themselves an arena so that they can charge more from the public and make a heck of a lot more money, and they aren't interested in property tax scenarios where the city is allowed to even recoup its' expenditures, or have a lease whereby the city recoups its' expenditures. You know who 'the city' is? Me. You. Everyone here.
The Flames' stance is silly and there is a huge chasm of difference between the two sides. They aren't 'almost there'. Not only will the owners suddenly be making a nice tidy profit on the city's 'investment', but the overall valuation of the Flames (and CSEC as a whole) will increase, and probably fairly dramatically at that.
They are not negotiating in good faith here from where I stand. Heck, they are not even negotiating. I was 'ok' with the city giving half as it would (hopefully) create a landmark and provide benefits to the citizens of Calgary, as well as be another revenue stream for the city. I am so against this project now, and more so with each passing month. I thought the Flames' opening proposal was not only terrible, but rather disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
I used to stick up for the ownership group quite a lot on these boards, and I really feel like I have egg on my face now. There demands in conjunction with some of the shenanigans they have pulled with their lobbying (which I consider to be criminal) has made me do a complete 180 on them.
I must have said this about 100 times on these forums: "We are lucky to have such a wonderful ownership group". How wrong was I? Incredibly, it seems.
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