Professional Sports Arenas & Stadiums

[GordonH]

To start of with I'm not talking about local non-professional arena i.e Prospera, Royal Lepage, SOEC & Apple Bowl etc.. etc
The ones I'm referring to are those 100 million+ arena & stadiums.

For me the biggest issue I have is the using of taxpayers moneys to build them.
imho the cost should be on the shoulders of the sport owner or owners, who will be using it. Now if that owner does not have financial resources to build, then save & build at later date.

Absolutely no taxpayers money should be used. Please what is your opinions

[Danielson99]

To start of with I'm not talking about local non-professional arena i.e Prospera, Royal Lepage, SOEC & Apple Bowl etc.. etc
The ones I'm referring to are those 100 million+ arena & stadiums.

For me the biggest issue I have is the using of taxpayers moneys to build them.
imho the cost should be on the shoulders of the sport owner or owners, who will be using it. Now if that owner does not have financial resources to build, then save & build at later date.

Absolutely no taxpayers money should be used. Please what is your opinions

The obligation to pay for a stadium will never be on the owners because having a professional team in your city benefits the 'city' and has a large impact on it's economy. Because of this, the city should be paying for a new stadium. If they don't want the economic and social benefits of having a pro team, the team can and will easily move to another city that wants them.

[GordonH]

So taxpayers pay for the arena's & stadiums, then have to pay again to see whatever is going inside, meanwhile billionaire owner laughs all the way to the bank.

Sorry if taxpayers paid for it then they own it & lease it back to billionaire, or that billionaire outright buy it.

[Bsuds]

Sorry if taxpayers paid for it then they own it & lease it back to billionaire, or that billionaire outright buy it.

I'm pretty sure the team does not get to use the facility for free as well as anyone else using it will pay.

[Thinktank]

the billionaire gets $millions - for free.

Now if some poor guy doesn't pay his taxes - they take his house away.

[Bsuds]

Absolutely no taxpayers money should be used. Please what is your opinions

Apparently Rogers Arena in Vancouver was built for 160 million with private funding.
So no Taxpayers money was involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Arena

[Thinktank]

Wow. ....

[Bsuds]

Well that was 20 years ago.

[GordonH]

Absolutely no taxpayers money should be used. Please what is your opinions

Apparently Rogers Arena in Vancouver was built for 160 million with private funding.
So no Taxpayers money was involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Arena

Exactly Bsuds it was Arthur Griffiths that built Rogers Arena/GM Place

[Danielson99]

So taxpayers pay for the arena's & stadiums, then have to pay again to see whatever is going inside, meanwhile billionaire owner laughs all the way to the bank.

Sorry if taxpayers paid for it then they own it & lease it back to billionaire, or that billionaire outright buy it.

The common sense involved is simple however in reality business does not work that way with respect to pro teams and stadiums. There are extremely few teams that are privately owned and very few stadiums that are privately owned. Sure it makes sense that the CITY should buy the team and the stadium, then profit off it. Unfortunately the pro sports leagues like the NBA, MLB and NFL will not allow any city to own it's team. There are a few exceptions but it's a general rule and has actually been put into the league constitution that no city may own a team. I think it was the NFL that did that but it might be all of them.

It makes sense to me that the city should own the team and the stadium. The sad part is, it will never happen because they won't let it happen. Until things change (which they won't) we are forced to live with the way things work today. A city will be forced to build a stadium to attract or keep a pro team. The only situation where that isn't true is in a city like Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago etc where the team has no leverage by threatening to move because the team is far too entrenched in the city and it's people to the extent it would be impossible for a team owner to up and move his team.

Arizona as an example has no choice, they either build an arena (which they just did) or don't have a team, it's that simple.

[GordonH]

^^^ Just ownership of the building & team owner leases it from the ones who paid for the construction.
Cities should not be team owners, leave that up to billionaires.

[Danielson99]

^^^ Just ownership of the building & team owner leases it from the ones who paid for the construction.
Cities should not be team owners, leave that up to billionaires.

Cities should be team owners, they are the one footing the bill for these stadiums and arenas. You would also likely see alot more professionalism in ownership as opposed to how it is now with these rich billionaires and their drunken, drug filled lives. If Toronto was run by it's city they would have one of the best teams in the NHL every year because clearly, their owners now only care about the money they make and have no concern whatsoever about winning.

Why should a city pay 500, 700, 800 million dollars for a new stadium or arena when they could buy the team for the same price or much less in some cases like MLS teams for example. If the city bought the team and built the stadium/arena then they could recover taxpayer money used to build everything by operating a successful team.

[GordonH]

^^^ Just have to look at any Crown Corporation in this country to know Government makes for very bad business owners. This teams would all be totally screwed up in no time, more so then some are now.

[JayByrd]

These buildings are much more than just places for pro sports teams to play. The community does benefit from their existence, though I suppose if you don't go to sporting events, concerts, trade shows, etc, you're not benefitting.

Also keep in mind that these buildings don't just come with a price tag...they are a source of revenue. When the building is rented for a concert, the operator of the arena collects that fee. Tennants such as pro sports teams, pay rent. The companies that provide concession services bid for the right to do that. Naming rights. The list goes on.

[Danielson99]

^^^ Just have to look at any Crown Corporation in this country to know Government makes for very bad business owners. This teams would all be totally screwed up in no time, more so then some are now.

Actually it's the exact opposite. The Green Bay Packers, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and many teams in the WHL are all owned by their city in one way or another. In Europe many of the most successful football "soccer" teams are owned by their cities.