A modest proposal for free Flames tickets

in Nashville, Tennessee the teams always end up getting the cash. In Calgary, the Flames’ leadership has already said that if the money is not handed over in a reasonable time, the Flames will simply move to another city. So the outcome is not a matter of great suspense.

The city will employ a farrago of dubious measures — municipal infrastructure grants, per-ticket levies, management fees, concession percentages — to conceal that it is building a playhouse for the rich and influential. But ultimately, it will do so.

But Francis’ column did introduce something new to the argument. Brett Wilson, the Calgary entrepreneur who owns 12 per cent of the Predators, laments that Calgary can’t get its act together to build a new arena for the Flames. Usually the deals are structured (as they were in Edmonton) so that the owner’s contribution is actually repaid to him, but Wilson offered a novel take on any money the owners might put up.

“It bugs me to no end that when a city is allocated a couple hundred million for a sports facility that an ownership group puts up of their own money. People keep forgetting that’s a donation — a donation to the infrastructure of the city,” Wilson is quoted as saying.

Yes, a donation. Any money that a team’s owners put toward their own arena is a donation to the city’s infrastructure. Perhaps charitable tax receipts should be issued? It’s almost impressive that owners can convince themselves they’re entitled to publicly funded facilities as a starting point, and then to have any money extracted from them treated as (forced) philanthropy. But why restrict that logic to the owners? What about the patrons who pay the high ticket prices? Are they not donating to the upkeep of that city’s infrastructure?

Herewith, I put forward a proposal for the city of Calgary, my hometown. If a new hockey arena — paid for by public funds and owners’ “donations”— is really a public works project, let it be for the public. Stipulate that a certain number of tickets per event — let’s say a thousand, or even 500 (including some of the good seats) — are the city’s to distribute for free. They could be given out by lottery, or targeted toward worthy citizens who serve the community, or to those who otherwise could not afford to use this bit of public infrastructure. Undoubtedly, owners who are moved by a spirit of philanthropy to donate to their own buildings would smile upon this wider spirit of sharing?

Again, no suspense as to whether that idea will fly. Meanwhile, Nashville, enjoy the Stanley Cup finals!