[ST20]

I think the city did a good job in not caving to the CalgaryNEXT proposal. However, further public consultation and back and forth arguments are unproductive and repetitive at this point.

It is quite simple. If you want a team; Calgary as a city will need to help build an arena since it is not a big enough city to warrant any owner wanting to build one completely on their own dime.

The simple facts are:
- Arena's have little economic benefit to cities the size of Calgary the only reason to build an arena are the "intangible" benefits
- Teams that have built their own arena privately have massive populations and wealth (Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, Toronto, Vancouver, etc.) that will attract many more events
- Almost all businesses do not own their own buildings they lease it and will move buildings to wherever makes the most sense (worker pools, taxes and other incentives, customers, etc.) whether or not it is the same city, state, province or country
- There is a misconception that sports teams print money... They don't. Most of the value is in the franchise value (similar to stocks) not the profits they bring in (the flames are worth $450MM and a new arena will cost $550MM).
- It is financially easier to move to Houston or any other city with an arena already built than it is to spend up front capital that is worth more than your franchise because of the above reason
- The argument that the team will never leave Calgary because attendance is great compared to somewhere else doesn't hold too much weight because of the above reasons (see Phoenix for proof the free market principals don't apply)
- The free market does not apply to sports leagues. They are anything but a free market (drafting, restricted player movement, salary caps, restricted teams, revenue sharing, etc.).
- Sports teams/leagues are an exclusive club and more similar to a Cartel
- Just a random interesting fact about the sports industry in general is that the entire combined value of the big four American sports is magnitudes lower than the cardboard box industry which tells you a little bit about how these leagues are run...

Some of those facts are bordering on opinion but I think you get my gist. Given the circumstances, this is really a question about whether or not you believe that having hockey in Calgary is a long term benefit outside of strict measurable finances.