@lamarchebleue Québec
La Marche Bleue aura lieu le samedi 2 octobre 2010 à 13:00 aur le Site des Grands Évènements (scène Bell) sur les Plaines d'Abraham.
Quebec City is, like Winnipeg, a small Canadian city that can almost certainly generate higher arena revenues than the average US Sun Belt team. Even if the new Nordiques played in the old Colisée, with its 15,200 seats, they could likely record higher attendance than about a third of US NHL arenas. And taking Canada’s existing NHL markets as a guide, they would also be able to charge much higher ticket prices than many American teams.
Does Quebec really need a new 18,000 seat, $400 million arena? Winnipeg is NHL-ready with a 15,000 seat barn that cost a third of what Quebec City is proposing to spend. A smaller market such as Quebec City would be well served by a smaller, less expensive building.
[Mayor] Labeaume lamented how Quebec City is quibbling over the construction of a new arena in the hope of luring a team back.
“I’m angry and very, very bitter,” Labeaume said Tuesday. “We should be in a blitz with the NHL to make sure we’re next on the list (after Winnipeg) but instead, we are here fighting a minority,” Labeaume said.
The mayor is facing opposition to a deal between media giant Quebecor and the city to build a $400-million NHL-calibre arena. The agreement would give Quebecor naming rights to the city’’ proposed arena scheduled to be completed in 2015, which could serve as the future home of an NHL team.
However, opponents to the deal, which includes a former Quebec City general manager, intend to challenge the agreement in court, saying it benefits Quebecor and would result in higher city taxes.
Meanwhile, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cautioned against fans in other Canadian markets from getting excited about other possible moves.
“I get extremely unhappy and cranky with raising expectation when they shouldn’t be raised,” the commissioner said in Winnipeg.
He said the NHL “will continue to resist moving franchises” and re-affirmed the league’s commitment to its 29 other markets.
[Mayor] Labeaume lamented how Quebec City is quibbling over the construction of a new arena in the hope of luring a team back.
“I’m angry and very, very bitter,” Labeaume said Tuesday. “We should be in a blitz with the NHL to make sure we’re next on the list (after Winnipeg) but instead, we are here fighting a minority,” Labeaume said.
The mayor is facing opposition to a deal between media giant Quebecor and the city to build a $400-million NHL-calibre arena. The agreement would give Quebecor naming rights to the city’’ proposed arena scheduled to be completed in 2015, which could serve as the future home of an NHL team.
However, opponents to the deal, which includes a former Quebec City general manager, intend to challenge the agreement in court, saying it benefits Quebecor and would result in higher city taxes.
Meanwhile, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cautioned against fans in other Canadian markets from getting excited about other possible moves.
“I get extremely unhappy and cranky with raising expectation when they shouldn’t be raised,” the commissioner said in Winnipeg.
He said the NHL “will continue to resist moving franchises” and re-affirmed the league’s commitment to its 29 other markets.
It is too bad. I would wager that Qebec City is at least a marginally better market than Winnipeg. Too bad that they can't get things going there.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Pierre Karl Peladeau, the media mogul who hopes to bring back the Quebec Nordiques, says he's happy for Manitobans.
But the Quebecor media mogul remained tight-lipped about whether Tuesday's announcement might help pave the way to Quebec also getting its team back.
"Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to make any comments about what they're expecting to do with the league," Peladeau told a news conference Tuesday, where he unveiled a new French-language sports TV network.
Peladeau has a financial agreement with the municipality to become the manager of the eventual arena, and he is expected to be a main contender in any bid to lure a team from the U.S.
Mr. Péladeau is widely considered the next leading ownership candidate if another NHL franchise is approved for Canada. He has been working behind the scenes for months to try to convince NHL officials and owners of the merits of bringing back the Nordiques and has dedicated a small team at Quebecor to the task.
The media magnate was outbid by the Molson family for the Montreal Canadiens in 2009. Mr. Péladeau is hungry for an NHL team to feed content across his range of media platforms.
Quebecor controls cable and wireless company Videotron Ltee, television network network TVA Group, as well as Internet portals Canoe Inc. and newspaper chains Sun Media Corp. and Osprey Media.
Pierre Bélanger, a broadcasting specialist at the University of Ottawa: “In my mind, what Quebecor Media is doing is probably just revving up the broadcasting machine in the likelihood that there will be an [NHL team in Quebec City] within the next two to three years,” Mr. Belanger said. “[For now], they’re facing a pretty uphill battle.”
Rapporter Les Nordiques
