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Originally Posted by beyeas
Like I said, I completely support public money going into this, and as you say many tens of millions will go to the library project so why not the stadium.
It is not apples to apples comparison though, which is why I think private money needs to go into this if it is going to be expanded to the point of being a CFL sized stadium. The difference is that the library will not have a private for profit company as a primary tenant making money off of the public investment. That is why it is quite often the norm these days in arena/stadium building to have a mix of corporate and public money since both the business and the public will also benefit. It shouldn't fall 100% to either side to have to pay the whole bill.
Tax money money going to a project that will clearly have major public impact on quality of life etc is a good thing, and if we plan to have a corporate run CFL team that hopefully makes a profit, then they also need to step in with their share of the money.
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I don't see the difference between leasing/renting a stadium to private interests (not just a CFL team, hopefully also a soccer team sometime in the future, and concert promoters ...). How is that different from renting the convention centre space to private interests?
Part of the business case for a stadium is to consider the income from the stadium (including potential rent income from a CFL team). The truth is that the extravagant stadiums tend to run at a big loss. So I think the best chance of making money (or breaking even) will be an economical stadium which can be easily upgraded with club seats/luxury suites and easily expanded when necessary. Such a stadium will also have the least risk for taxpayers.