Quote (Cover3 @ Oct 10 2018 10:17pm)
https://globalnews.ca/news/2927009/a-look-back-at-how-edmontons-rogers-place-is-being-paid-for/It is subsidizing a billionaire in the fullest though... Its not like the gov/city is going to get to own the team when/if(won't happen) a team goes there, it's quite telling that they couldn't get any sort of participation from private investors and clearly this was just the local politicians' way of gaining support by throwing 400m$ at people in the quebec city region who don't have the means to support a team even if one eventually came.
The cost of the arena =/= the cost of the Edmonton downtown revitalization project. Admittedly I dont understand the full workings of the DT revitalization project to really comment about the project as a whole.
My point was more that the Public ends up footing the majority of the bill anyways, and that you cant really judge an arena project simply based on funding.
Quote (Killingyouall @ Oct 10 2018 07:55pm)
That all depends on whether or not the investment provides a positive return for the investor.
I sure as hell would not throw my hard earned money into an arena just because I thought it would be cool to get the chance to bring an NHL team to my city....
It would have to provide a good financial return. I don't put emotion and irrational thinking into my business decisions and I would be pissed if someone wasted my taxpayer dollars doing that.
Sometimes these public projects fair well for the growth of the city, other times you get an endless money pit that puts the entire area in financial ruin. For examples of that look at how many cities fell into a deep financial pit hosting the Olympics.... Imagine spending hundreds of millions (if not more) on facilities that decayed to ruin after being used for just one function.
TLDR: If it brings money into the city, spend the money and make it happen, if it drains money from the city pull the plug.
You summarized my thoughts well, I have no issue with public funding as long as it is feasible for a financial return. Now, I think owning the arena outright has the potential for a profitable deal to be struck by the government and an NHL team (assuming one comes).
Using Edmonton as my example again. Majority of funding came from the public, on top of that tickets, beverages and food are all exceptionally more expensive in the new arena. I take issue with them taking public money and then moving to increase the cost of everything. Now, Edmonton isnt the best example because they absolutely fleeced the government when they got their deal.
This post was edited by GSG on Oct 11 2018 08:18am
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