Bettman: No basis for a Calgary arena deal anytime soon
Thought this deserved it's own thread so people can at least see the video. Ron is a fantastic interviewer and did a great job probing Bettman about the arena and pulling out answers. It seems the two sides are just as far as ever.
“From talking to ownership in Calgary on a regular basis, they’re not on the same wavelength (with the city),” Bettman said in an interview with Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean. “What’s clear to me is that there’s no basis for a deal anytime soon which is why the Flames have given up the pursuit.”
“Our argument is the city needs to somehow share in the upside if we’re going to share in the cost,” Nenshi, who was re-elected in October, said at the time.
Negotiations have only gone sour since, with Bettman calling the situation “frustrating” in December.
And based on his comments on Sunday, Bettman’s viewpoint hasn’t changed.
“The whole problem is, no matter how the city dresses it up, the fact of the matter is they’re looking for the Flames to pay for the whole thing,” Bettman said Sunday.
Maybe I am little jaded after seeing these things play out in other cities, but I can't help but think it is posturing on both sides. Eventually, one side will concede something to the other and a deal will get worked out.
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“The whole problem is, no matter how the city dresses it up, the fact of the matter is they’re looking for the Flames to pay for the whole thing,” Bettman said Sunday.
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How would they know - no one has talked in several months.
What seems lost is that the City/Mayor never discussed their offer as any sort of final offer. In fact, they explicitly said it was not a final offer and remained “at the table” open to talking to the Flames anytime. Flames left in a huff, lost election, haven’t returned. Just start talking again, it’s a new Council, a new time, new factors at play, including the Olympics bid becoming more real.
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Trust the snake.
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All "sides" are pointing fingers but the bottom line is nothing is getting done. Someone needs to step up and lead instead of engaging in the I'm right you're wrong olympics.
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How would they know - no one has talked in several months.
What seems lost is that the City/Mayor never discussed their offer as any sort of final offer. In fact, they explicitly said it was not a final offer and remained “at the table” open to talking to the Flames anytime. Flames left in a huff, lost election, haven’t returned. Just start talking again, it’s a new Council, a new time, new factors at play, including the Olympics bid becoming more real.
The Flames aren’t interested in doing a deal with how the City wants the deal structured. The Flames have walked away from the city, and the arena issue is dead as far as they’re concerned. King isn’t talking about it.
If the city of Calgary wants a new arena, they have to go out and find investment partners. Maybe when the city gets to the point of deeming an arena a point of interest, they’ll cycle back to the Flames (if the Flames are still here).
As far as I’m concerned, the Flames used their language (and their ongoing lack of communication regarding the issue) very carefully. They’re done.
They’ll play here in the Saddledome as long as it makes financial sense for them. Either the city will approach them, or someone else for investment in a new arena in the next 2-6 years, or I imagine the Flames will leave - and at that stage, it’ll likely make financial sense for them to do just that.
I don’t think there’s anything malicious or misleading happening on either side of this deal. Sometimes things just don’t work between two groups.
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I fully support Bettman and the owners vs the PA but dear god he is a slime ball. He obviously wants to make the Calgary taxpayers pay thru the nose for the Flames expensive new toy. What a huckster.
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I fully support Bettman and the owners vs the PA but dear god he is a slime ball. He obviously wants to make the Calgary taxpayers pay thru the nose for the Flames expensive new toy. What a huckster.
Must be nice to be able to make these statements with your team back safe and sound with no risk of leaving.
Was Bettman such a slimeball when he assisted with the return of the Jets?
All "sides" are pointing fingers but the bottom line is nothing is getting done. Someone needs to step up and lead instead of engaging in the I'm right you're wrong olympics.
What is leading in this case? It's a negotiation. One side's play is that they walked away, the others is that they have a deal on the table and they're open to discussion on it.
What you're saying is "someone needs to step up and lead by giving in."
I want to know why the Flames didn't begin negotiating in 2007 behind closed doors so that they at least had an IDEA as to where the city stood by the time they unveiled their plan in 2015.
It's like nobody from the Flames was in contact with the city and only picked up the phone after their big unveiling (which itself was disappointing) and asked "so what do ya think, can we get the money?"
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With Calgary pursuing the Olympics it makes sense for the Flames to do nothing. They believed they had a leverage point during the election so made their play. They lost. Their next opportunity to change the balance of power is the Olympic bid. If the city needs them and a second level of government gets involved to fund the gap.
Bettmens statment that the city wants the flames to pay for the whole thing isn't really a lie. The city more or less wants to maintain the current level of subsidy they currently give the Flames which is somewhere between a 6-8 million dollar tax/rent holiday plus a monopoly on large event management in the city in exchange for operating and maintaining the building. The city proposal effectively works out to that same 6-8 million subsidy but a little more front loaded
So the statement that under the city proposal in the end the Flames will pay for the whole new building (while still getting a significant subsidy that they already get) is more or less factually correct.
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Bettman: No basis for a Calgary arena deal anytime soon
