Next hurdle for CFL in Halifax comes with major proposal

The benefits and costs of having a major professional sports franchise in the community are never a zero-sum match made in taxpayer heaven.

So a community that acknowledges value in the addition of a Canadian Football League franchise, for instance, and still manages to mitigate the public contributions to stadium construction, operation and maintenance, might well be viewed a winner in an expensive game too often decided, somewhat illogically, by civic ego and estimates of economic impact, both dangerously inflated for effect.

With that in mind, Haligonians who would like to see a CFL team in their city should be happy that chief administrative officer Jacques Dube and a team of number-crunchers at the Halifax Regional Municipality have drawn a responsible bottom line on the proposed football stadium seen as crucial to the future existence of the Atlantic Schooners. Dube et al have eschewed other funding options from Schooner Sports and Entertainment (SSE), the franchise’s proponents, in favour of one that best defines and limits public cost.

On Tuesday, HRM’S regional council will debate a staff recommendation of a one-time taxpayer contribution of $20 million toward a modest community stadium that will be expandable to 24,000 seats, for a cost of about $110 million.

SSE will chip in $30 million over 30 years, and pay to operate and maintain the building.

A ticket surcharge would cover some construction loan costs, and a proposed doubling of the provincial hotel levy to four per cent could cover the rest, but that’s a conversation for the near future.

There is no burden of ownership on HRM, no operational or maintenance costs. No diversion of future tax revenue related to the stadium or ancillary developments. No dependency on ticket sales to drive return on investment. Instead, the facility will be subject to full taxation.

The staff recommendation points away from Shannon Park, where infrastructure concerns are many and pricey, and word is SSE is prepared to build its project elsewhere. What’s more, the $20 million from HRM doesn’t come out of the public purse at the beginning of the process, when things still could go sideways. It is paid only upon substantial completion, estimated by staff to occur in 2023.

Haligonians certainly are entitled to their concerns over spending even $20 million on a league that has never planted its flag in Atlantic Canada, a league with some real financial

challenges. Attendance is down a frightening amount in Toronto, though the Argonauts are backed by the deep pockets of Maple

Leaf Sports and Entertainment and the runway should be longer than it otherwise might be. Numbers aren’t good in B.C., and the Lions are for sale. So are the Montreal Alouettes. But the CFL is gaining control of its costs and just extended a TV rights deal with TSN that essentially covers all player salaries through 2025.

The CFL also is a lasting brand, with many franchises tracing their roots back to the 1950s and ’60s, and there are community-owned teams in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan that make modest profits.

It isn’t a lavish league, nor does it behave that way. So a modest stadium and a relatively modest contribution from the host community seems a logical route.

In Hamilton, public money paid the entire $145 million tab for Tim Hortons Field. In Regina, where Mosaic Stadium was built for $278 million, the Riders’ contribution was $25 million. The funding scheme included a modest tax hike over the first 10 years to cover a $73-million contribution from the city. The province also provided an $80-million grant, and a $100-million loan from the province to the city is being repaid through a ticket surcharge. The city also has to cover maintenance costs.

The cost to Manitoba taxpayers for IG Field in Winnipeg was higher, as more than $200 million in loans made by the provincial government to fund construction were written off. In September 2018, Premier Brian Pallister called the financing plan “an unsustainable scam.”

There were holes to be poked in the SSE stadium plan too, and HRM staff found many of them on the Shannon Park site. SSE knows it has to move on from its first choice, and the staff recommendation has given them hope for progress.

If it passes through regional council on Tuesday as is, or with gentle modifications, a vote of approval would represent neither the end nor the beginning of the Schooners’ story, rather a watershed event in what still promises to be a somewhat taxing journey for everyone.