Taxpayers shouldn't have to fund these stadiums.
The crazy thing is that Wang had lined up private funding for the Lighthouse project. The Nassau GOP machine killed it because the development included housing that they feared would be occupied by people from the city who would likely vote Democrat. So basically they killed it over naked self interest.Taxpayers shouldn't have to fund these stadiums.
The crazy thing is that Wang had lined up private funding for the Lighthouse project. The Nassau GOP machine killed it because the development included housing that they feared would be occupied by people from the city who would likely vote Democrat and attract dangerous minorities. So basically they killed it over naked self interest.
First of all Bettman is a lawyer. He works for the owners and does NOTHING without the owners direction and approval. Second NYC is a baseball town and doesn't need three NHL franchises. The joke was created when they added the third franchise. Its a NYR town, at least 75% of the hockey fans. The Devils and Isles have a truly dedicated core but not a knowledgeable core but not a very large following. Having been to many games at all three arenas the Barclays Center is a terrible place to watch hockey... no one likes it especially the team who have been trying to get out of the lease.
Taxpayers shouldn't have to fund these stadiums.
Saying that Bettman has no power or never leads direction is ridiculous. That's like saying Roger Goodell has no power. And part of my comment was the idea of having 3 NHL teams in the New York area. The Devils and Isles are welfare teams with no fan base. They shouldn't exist..... add the Coyotes which are run by the NHL. Plus the Southern teams and you have a league with too many struggling franchises. And Gary Bettman has a major hand in it... he is the guy at the rudder who made a lot of these decisions.
It makes sense when the team becomes an integral part of the community. It can bring serious revenue to an area.
I'm pretty sure that the stats do not back this up.
Taxpayers should never be willing to fund any professional sports teams arena, period. The notion that I should help fund for a bunch of rich *******s is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of in my life. At the end of the day I couldn't care any less if all professional athletes were told to pack sand. Blows my mind how many people are dedicated, base their identity, or life around a team.
Tangentially, this is why I would be firmly against any move to revive the Expos in Montreal. I was a huge fan of the team when they were here but it would be an enormous boondoggle for a city that needs to focus on redoing their entire infrastructure.
in hockey only communities absolutely.
when Manchester,NH got the Monarchs back in 2000 it was a big boom for downtown.
Unless you are talking NHL only. But any town that has minor league hockey, junior hockey, college hockey ect does get a boost in the local community. t
Every town is different. You can't compare Allentown to Vegas. The Vegas franchise owner paid $500 M for a franchise (Columbus paid 80 in 2000) but an brand new $400M arena was privately built (Vegas is such a draw that private money was attracted to the deal) so they just needed to negotiate a lease. The arena definite creates jobs and adds to the tax base and with over 300 nights a year of programming just about everyone is a winner.
Allentown on the other hand needed an anchor for revitalization and arenas can do that. So the city acquired land, floated bonds, built an arena and attracted a team. The arena is owned by the city of Allentown. Time will tell if it was a good bet or not.