No. Winning is of utmost importance. You are looking at this as a binary issue. Either spend $ on winning or $ for "bells and whistles". Why not both.
Why is it A or B? You assume he has “this fixed amount” to spend. We know this isn’t the case.
The binary issue is whether or not the investment reaps dividends.
The hard truth here is that John Forslund doesn't have a significant economic value compared to his replacement. I don't mean he isn't
better than his replacement, but he is not going to drive revenue by being better. Very very very very very few people base their decision to watch a Carolina Hurricanes game on whether it's John Forslund or Mike Maniscalco in the booth. That's just the reality of how sports TV works. The product they're selling is the game, not the PBP guy.
So if Dundon has $100K to spend, you better believe it
is a binary choice for him whether to invest in an aspect of the organization that will make the money back, or not.
Why was TD so set on a new video board? (And was a bit of a dick when the Authority said he couldn't get the monster he wanted immediately?) Is that not a bell and whistle? Does having a new board make Scott Darling a Vezina candidate? Oh that's right; it's not coming out of his pocket.
But the video board actually
does drive revenue. Not only is it a very significant factor in sponsorship pitches, it also impacts things as fundamental as whether big-ticket bands will play here.
Naturally Dundon wanted the CA to pay for those upgrades. That's exactly what the CA's budget is intended for. Naturally he stuck it to them when they balked, the entire concept of buying into Gale Force was so that he could control the arena and leverage those upgrades. It's fundamental to his business model and why he owns the team, and that will be true of
any owner who buys in to PNC.