Quote:
Originally Posted by osmo
If the Riders played Hockey it would be a different story.
Not knocking the Riders as IMO the Rider fan base is a nuts as a Hockey fan base in Quebec but the push from other players would be much stronger because its easier to make a business case for an NHL Rink vs a Football Stadium.
How many schemes have been hatched up to build NHL rinks and lure a NHL team to Canada specifically the GTA. Hamilton, Downsview, Markham. A NHL team is a money bag in the right instances in Canada. As much as the Riders are the crown jewel in the CFL fiscal crown their revenues streams are barley even a quarter of what an Canadian NHL teams bring in.
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I wrote up a big long post that turned into a rant, and I didn't want to go there... again...
But in any case,
here are the revenues for the Canadian NHL teams (millions):
Toronto: 193
Montreal: 165
Vancouver: 146
Calgary: 105
Edmonton: 96
Ottawa: 100
Winnipeg: 71
and for comparison... the lowest team, the Islanders: 63
The Riders had revenues of ~$38 million last year (this years figures will be released in June, and will probably be a little lower).
So considering the much lower attendence revenue posibilities and the much lower broadcasting contract, that's not as far as you thought it would be is it? Add to that, that the Riders, due to their non-profit community ownership status, no one rich owner profits from these revenues. Everything must be reinvested either into the organization, the facility, game-day experience, or the community (which the Riders have been doing quite a bit of over the last couple years when profits started to spike; this can be seen by the large uptick in community football programs throughout the province).
And considering that TSN's TV contract (although fairly appropriate at the time) looks like a steal of a deal now, so the new contract will probably have a fair increase, so revenues will be on the rise from the league.
So is the justification all that hard to make? Especially if a good facility can be formatted to properly perform the function of an arena in terms of concert/event possibilities. (Yes... I'm still pushing for a multi-purpose facility... after living my whole life here, I want to see us take a decided step forward instead of just toeing the line and going for the cheapest available alternative).
And from your comment it seems like you're not from here (sorry if I'm making a wrong assumption, you don't have a location listed so it's hard to tell). If that's the case though, where are you from? and why are you taking such a vested interest in the project here? (I'm not meaning to be confrontational/butt-out type attitude, just more curiosity).
And well... that turned into a long post anyway.