New Downtown Calgary Arena

[McMurph]

I recently went to a Barcelona game at Camp Nou -- 99,000 people and extremely limited facilities. Couldn't even have a beer in the stands. Put a good product (and a proper sport) on the field and people will fill a shitty stadium to see it. If you have a good enough team the stadium becomes iconic despite itself (like the old Forum in MTL). It's interesting that two of the most boring sports in the world (american football and baseball*) seem to be completely dependent on glitzing out the consumer experience with gigantic screens and gourmet food... except in places like Boston where it's all about atmosphere and history.

I'd be happy with a better stadium, in part because I'd love to see Calgary get an MLS team and some international football action in the future. I don't mind the Stamps or the CFL, but they don't really need a palace and a palace isn't going to suddenly make them the Riders or the Cowboys in terms of community importance.

*please let's not debate the merit of various sports. I'm just defining boring on a purely personal grounds, plus the metric of how much time the stupid ball is actually moving.