Sens At LeBreton? It’s Just Fading Away

Published 09/13/2023 · Updated 09/13/2023

quotable1

“… sources say (Senators owner Michael Andlauer) would like to hold exploratory discussions with the National Capital Commission about the possibility of a downtown rink.”
Bruce Garrioch, Ottawa Citizen and Sun

Well, lookie here.

The talk of putting a new Senators’ arena on LeBreton Flats has gone from two competing bids to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman saying the site looks too small to “exploratory” talks with the National Capital Commission. Hmm.

Talking is easy. Financing and building a $1-billion new hockey hut is a whole different thing. And one thing you can be sure of is the NCC will be completely out of its depth. It’s good at cutting lawns but its failure in Ottawa River bridge-building and the gruesome bad planning surrounding LeBreton Flats tells investors that the Crown corporation is something you piece together 10-foot poles to stay away from.

If anybody can screw up a LeBreton arena, the NCC is best-qualified to do that.

As for other determinants for possible real downtown locations (unlike LeBreton Flats) well Andlauer is better off where he is in Kanata.

NCC Rests This Weekend After Decades Of Botched Planning

First and most importantly, attendance isn’t necessarily linked to location. It is determined by the product on the ice and it looks like the team might be a winner (please note the word “might”: the Blue Jays and Mets looked good last spring and well …). People in Ottawa drive to Montreal to see their beloved Habs. They’ll drive a much shorter distance to Kanata to their beloved Senators.

Second, the Kanata rink is paid for and it is perfectly suitable for NHL hockey. In fact at 20,000 spectators, it might be a bit too big. The Blue Jays considered building a new stadium, looked at the cost and decided to renovate instead. If they renovated their top management, the team might be a winner some day (and to digress, isn’t there a World Series-winning top Canadian executive in Atlanta who once was a Blue Jays’ exec and loved his country, the Jays and Canada? Just asking).

Third, the city is growing west and he has a large season-ticket base in Kanata.

Fourth, how do you replace the revenue from those vast parking lots?

Five, light rail is not coming to Kanata in the next 20 years and when it is built, it might not still get to Kanata. Reliability problems, you know.

Six, he doesn’t have to deal much with the NCC and the city in Kanata. He already has approvals because the rink is built.

Seven, at LeBreton and elsewhere, a smart guy like Andlauer knows he’d be crazy to expect Ottawa’s LRT to be reliable enough to get 16,000 fans downtown and back quickly from the games. How many times is a family of four going to fork out $500 for tickets et al but have an LRT leaving them stranded at Bayview station in January?

Just The Facts, Mayor, On The Arena: THE VOTER

But if Andlauer is expecting donations from each of the city and province of about $300 million (as in Calgary), the answer is no. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe should not be subsidizing two major sports teams in the city.

He’s already propping up his wealthy ‘partners’ Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group at Lansdowne to the tune of about a half-billion dollars (which Sutcliffe should not be doing). Next, about $300 million for the Sens? Forget it.

Andlauer and OSEG both have very very deep pockets so no doubt one or more of Canada’s huge international banks would be happy to loan them a bil or so for a new home. That’s how we taxpayers do it with a mortgage. Taxpayers are tired of subsidizing rich guys.

Furthermore, how much do you like spending $300 million here and $500 million there on rich guys when needy seniors are having trouble getting hot meals in Ottawa?

Let’s get our priorities straight. Rich guys can pay their own bills just like we do.

Sports teams aren’t charities and owners make hundreds of millions of dollars in franchise appreciation while they cry foul on operating and capital costs.

Don’t fall for it, Your Worship. You are a fiscal conservative aren’t you?

Ken Gray

—

Pop Gossip Your Home Relax …

Bulldog Weather Full Local Sports

Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6

Other features: Full Bulldog Index Return to Bulldog Home

Tags: LeBreton Flats Michael Andlauer new arena Ottawa Senators

Merrill Smith says:
09/13/2023 at 12:36 PM
Don’t forget he also has deep connections to Hamilton where he is renovating/rebuilding the former Copps Coliseum, allegedly for his Hamilton Bulldogs, but who knows what other ideas he might have?
Ron Benn says:
09/13/2023 at 12:57 PM
The open ended question is how much will the NCC expect Andlauer to pay to take control of sufficient space for the arena etc. at LeBreton. Keep in mind that the NCC is a creature of politics. Their federal government shareholder may be reluctant to be seen to selling the land at a discount, especially to billionaire owner of a professional hockey team. Then add the cost of environmental remediation of what is generally accepted to be a polluted site. Finally, factor in the grief factor in having to deal with the NCC (which may exceed the cost of the first elements).
Keep in mind that its fools who rush in where wise men fear to go. We should not assume that Andlauer et al are fools. Not with the wealth that they have accumulated over the course of their careers.