Ken King; Flames Ownership no longer pursuing new arena in Calgary

[Cor]

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[GKJ]

This will go over well.

 

[Skip To My Lou]

Oh god.

 

[Diamondillium]

Those comments seem like when you **** off your wife in an argument and she's like "No it's fine. Just go out with your friends"

It's a trap Calgary.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

Ken sounds positively heartbroken... he can't believe the city and province won't pull a dump truck full of money up to his office.

I think this is a great opportunity for the NHL to contract what is clearly a moribund franchise. I hope they take it.

 

[Flaming Satan]

****ing King. You selfish ****ing *******.

 

[Johnny GODreau]

election in 5 weeks in Calgary.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Could this be viewed as a threat by the city and Flames fans? As in, we are not pursuing a new arena because we are looking at other cities who are more than willing to pay the freight for a new building.

Or perhaps, a massive renovation of the Saddledome is in order? Spend $200 - $300 million to retrofit the building from top-to-bottom, expand the footprint, dig down below ice level to expand the lower bowl to more modern standards (8-9000 seats vs the current 6500). This versus spending $500 - $600 million for a new arena.

Guess we will find out their true intentions soon enough.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

election in 5 weeks in Calgary.

I think this mostly explains King's comments

 

[TheDoldrums]

Coincidence that this came out on the same day Seattle announced an arena proposal? The threat to leave might feel more real if Seattle is viable.

 

[caley]

election in 5 weeks in Calgary.

Yup and also no coincidence that he just HAPPENS to make this announcement the day Seattle unveils plans to build an NHL-suitable rink.

 

[caley]

Coincidence that this came out on the same day Seattle announced an arena proposal?

Yup and also no coincidence that he just HAPPENS to make this announcement the day Seattle unveils plans to build an NHL-suitable rink.

Speaking of coincidences!

 

[superdeluxe]

What's the lease situation like?

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Bettman's reaction:

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Good for Calgary.

 

[MaskedSonja]

Bettman's reaction:

Wow. Usually I'm used to hearing bettman talk in vague terms. "Inevitable"? "Consequences"? These are pretty definite words for a usually indefinite bettman.


And yes between election and Seattle news this is definitely poker moves here. See how it plays out, certainly intriguing.

 

[KCC]

Not surprised at all. There had been zero movement in terms of a new arena for quite some time now. The question is, what happens next?

 

[neXis]

Seattle Flames.

 

[rent free]

Bettman's reaction:

ofc bettman said that. he wants anything and everything to do with getting rid of Canadian NHL teams. if it was an american team, he woulda been like 'the league will try its hardest and guarentee that this market will stay here and not move to canada".

 

[Cor]

Not surprised at all. There had been zero movement in terms of a new arena for quite some time now. The question is, what happens next?

Either Calgary blinks, and gives money, or they move, likely to Seattle.

It's clear that they need an arena. It's clear that ownership will only build it if they get money from the city. Unfortunately, it also appears clear that Calgary has no interest in paying.

The fact that Bettman has come out and threatened "consequences", should have people worried

 

[rent free]

also isnt Calgary NEXT being built or something?

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

ofc bettman said that. he wants anything and everything to do with getting rid of Canadian NHL teams. if it was an american team, he woulda been like 'the league will try its hardest and guarentee that this market will stay here and not move to canada".

This has nothing to do with that old saw. This is all about strong arming the people of Alberta and Calgary into paying for an arena for the billionaire owners of the Flames to profit off. They do not need public money to build their arena, they just know they can get it if they threaten to move. The NHL and other sports leagues run the exact same scam in the states, over and over.

Luckily the discourse has shifted in recent years, and the scam doesn't work like it used to. Naheed Nenshi deserves major props for calling their bluff.

 

[bam09]

It's a wonder Edwards persists with Ken King. The only way they move is if Edwards wishes to sell. They've already had the mayor, who will sleep his way to being reelected in just over a month, promise money with the usual ambiguous fluffy caveat - public money for public benefit - and he wants serious people to believe he'd rather put himself out of a job and have his employer pay rent to be a second class tenant? Lol. Ken King couldn't open a door, let alone a new building.

 

[Aceboogie]

See ya in Seattle flames

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Not a hell of difference between this and the threat Katz made with Edmonton. However at least with Katz's project there was always a benifit to Edmonton (a redevelopment to the downtown core), the debate was always around how much the city should be spending public money on this.


Katz without a doubt got a massive win out of the deal, but I don't think anyone could argue the city lost. It desperately needed downtown redevelopment and a new centre for a region that has grown by ~50% in the last 20 years. (1.4million people in 2017 vs. ~850'000 in 1995).

I don't see Calgary NEXT or any of the other proposed ideas offering any benefits to the city of Calgary. Just a demand for the city to spend and not see any return on their investment.