Quote:
Originally Posted by jungleboy
Nice For Calgary to get a new arena, but ... Why is it that these NHL franchises (and I do mean all of em) can't seem to make enough money to build their own arenas? Not trying to pick a fight, just a dead serious question. I am pretty sure Katz could have paid for the Edm. arena all by himself but he went begging for taxpayers money like all good NHL owners seem to do. "Gimme money, Or I may have to move this loser franchise elsewhere". It's as if Bombardier has a major stake in all NHL franchises.
Also why is that this arena (Saddledome) had such a short life span? The Leafs played in MLG for 67 yrs in a building constructed in the 30s! The Bruins were in the Garden for same 67yrs ,The Habs in the forum 72yrs The Flames in the Saddledome 36 yrs with a major reno 10 yrs into it? Is the construction that bad these days?, was it planned by Edmonton's city council? I don't get it.
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Why would the owner(s) of NHL teams pay for an arena that they only use less than 5% of the time? Arena's like the Saddledome and Rogers place aren't only used for hockey. How do you divide up who pays how much? Who retains ownership? The arena's belong to and benefit the entire city. Concerts and events like the rodeo bring in people from all over the country. People who spend money on other things in other places while here.
That would be like expecting hunters to have to own/buy any land they hunt on.