To my knowledge, the city has come up with a single offer to the Flames which has them paying for the entire shabang
This is, dare I say, fake news.
The Flames would be paying for one third of the new arena in the city's proposal.
People buying the tickets would be paying for one third. The Flames have claimed that this is a cost incurred on the Flames' side, but that is pure spin. The way surcharges work, usually, is that if a ticket was $100 before, it's still going to be listed at that same price. Then, when you guy to buy it and the taxes and fees are added, you will see the surcharge. Whenever a product is taxed, that tax is basically always passed on to the consumer. In some businesses, a tax like this can drive away business and hurt the company. I don't think you or anyone believes that this is one of those cases. The Saddledome will be full. The Flames aren't going to lose a damn thing over this surcharge. So calling this a Flames cost is an outright lie.
The city would be paying for one third. This isn't a loan. It's not going to be paid back. There is zero justification for considering this a Flames cost. I don't think anything really needs to be said here.
Now, that's all the money you need to build an arena. Only a third of it came from the Flames. The arena is now built.
The Flames will be given all rights to make profit off the building, and they'll make a lot of profit. As a business operating in the city, they will be expected to pay taxes on what they earn. That is a cost of doing business in the city. It is not a cost of building the arena.
Everybody sees this. The mayor has explained it in simple terms. The fans all saw through it immediately. The media gets it. I have no idea why you would cling to this lie that the Flames are telling.