[esquire]

So far as I can tell, there really is no economic case to be made for a domed stadium (er, "multi-purpose entertainment facility") for Regina. The argument in favour of such a complex really boils down to one of ego, i.e., Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have domed stadiums. When we build ours, we'll be on par with them. If that's what it really is then fine, go ahead and build it. But don't try to convince anyone that it's because of the buckets of money that will be made with a domed stadium, because that won't be happening.

If you want to see what a Regina domed stadium's event schedule will be like, go and check out the events calendar for the first half of 2012 at BC Place, Olympic Stadium and Rogers Centre. Remove all of the MLS, MLB and CONCACAF related events from their respective schedules. Add in maybe one or two concerts too big for the Brandt Centre. What you're left with is a smattering of entertainment events, nearly all of which could be accommodated elsewhere (home show, boat show, Disney on Ice) and really no sporting events of any significance save for the occasional one-off like maybe a Brier final.

If it boils down to wanting to be the kings of football in Canada then I guess a domed stadium it is, but if it's about making money then it's hard to see how it wouldn't make more sense to go with an outdoor stadium and indoor arena.