[Monahammer]

who are these cities clamouring to pay billionaires to locate a hockey franchise there?

I saw Houston used earlier. Tillman Fertitta is the primary user of the arena there. This guy has a history of being a cheap ####### who does not play nice in the sandbox- I give it slim to no chance that he would be willing to let another franchise of any sport (none the less hockey) encroach on the use of the Toyota Centre. In fact, when the toyota centre was built the Aeroes were specifically cut out of the deal and use of the facility by the former rockets owner.
So is the city of Houston going to build another arena for this purpose? (not likely) Are the flames owners willing to play deep second fiddle on a building they will have no say over, and definitely won't be getting any of the associated land ownership and development benefits they would get out of a new project here? I would bet not given their history of control.

So where are the flames relocating to?

Edit: Portland was mentioned too- can't see it working in portland either. Arena is owned by the same ownership group that owns and runs the Trailblazers, so NHL would be second or third fiddle (Portland likes it's college basketball too.)
Plus the winterhawks are a long established WHL franchise with a solid fan base and low overhead. Who's in a rush to give that up?

Neither of these seem like a better scenario than the existing one for the flames, and certainly not a better scenario than the deal they originally came to here. I suspect even a much worse deal for them than was originally settled on would still be preferable to either of these scenarios.