DOME for Peg' stadium

I personally think that David is now starting to grasp at straws. Saying lets add this and see if it will sweeten the pot. I think he needs to sweeten the pot with more of his money. Say how about he contribute at least 60 to 75% of the costs which by the way would include the cost of the land.

He is asking for way to much and not contributing enough. At the end of this deal, lets say he decides to walk away in 5 or 10 years.....what has it cost him....

Run a healthy debt free franchise into the ground, unable to determine impact of this. If he had to purchase the team right now it would like sell for $15M.

$40 Million to contributed to building of a new stadium. If you chop of the purchase price it is only $25M. Potential loss here.

Land for new commercial operation and $25M invested, he walks away with a money maker for the next 30 to 40 years. It should be conditional he gives ownership of this if he leaves the team.

Anybody that thinks trading away the team for a minor investment in a new stadium is a good business decision thing again.

He's contributing $40 million to a stadium which will be owned by the city and he will have to lease it from the city to play the games there. Therefore it's as if he's paying $40 million for the team which it certainly isn't worth that.

You have to think of the economic spinoffs that occur with this project. Obviously the construction costs and the tax revenue from that, the income tax on those guys building it, the money that they will be spending in the community. All the public money invested into the stadium will be made back within 5 years.

As for the retail development, why would you be opposed to more business in Winnipeg? You don't like it because God forbid he might make some money? That's the point of business. Winnipeg only wins from a largescale business venture like that. Without the retail development what do we have? An empty parking lot that is doing nothing for us.

If you're worried that he'll sell the team in 5 years (which I doubt) then they could include a clause in the contract that gives the City the right to buy the team before anyone else to return it to community ownership.

Stadiums aren't minor investments. Just think what the city would be like without one, or what would happen if half the existing stadium was declared unfit.

Teams, no matter who owns them, are more than just narrowly defined profit centres. They are community enhancers which help to distribute wealth over a broad spectrum of business, while at the same time providing civic pride and optimism. They make our communities better places to live and help give direction to youth by giving them something to aspire too instead of turning to despair and crime. They give us local heroes and add a regional flare to the country.

There comes a time when a community has to ask itself what it really wants, and if it wants to participate in society as a whole and compete for opportunities with other cities then it needs to, at some point, make a deal. Talk and dithering and indecision cannot go on forever because if it does the risk of losing it's team grows greater as time marches on.

Winnipeg, as a city, has an opportunity. Are there any others? If not then iron out the minor details, get the legal language in order, and get it done.

mking3, there is already stated thing that says if he wants to sell the team it must first revert back to a community ownership situation.

I am not against him building his mall. I am against what he projects as a minor investment for government when he is getting way more then what he is contributing. He is asking for land and tax breaks over and above the cash needed to build the stadium.

I am sorry, but if this was such a good deal, why is it nobody is stepping forward. If it is such a good deal, then he should contribute 50 to 75% of the costs of the stadium.

You seem to think he will not cause problems for the team. He had to resign as a board member of this very team because he caused problems with its operations.

…with Daley and his gang running the Bombers into the ground , i was glad David Asper had the intestinal fortitude to step-up and say what had to be said… his resignation was the price he paid for ‘speaking-up’…but i never saw anyone connected with the club trying to distance themselves from Asper for his stance…in fact they praised him and his family for the financial contributions they made to the club in the past…with ‘NO’ financial gain to them…also The need for a winter venue to train and use by other sports is definitely needed in the Peg…sporting groups are coming out in full support of the idea…As of now, i don’t see anyone else except the Aspers, trying to enhance the sporting situation in the Manitoba capital…IF the Aspers bid fails…i would consider that as a heavy blow to the sporting scene in Wpg. and the fall-out will definitely be felt politically…and you can take that to the bank… :wink:

This is the truth. Hes getting WAY MORE than what hes putting into it. Hes asking for Free land from the city in a prime real estate position to put up a commercial venue that will be bringing in big bucks, much more than his ‘investment’ for years to come. I’m no business expert but I can still see something weird going on here. I’m not against the man getting a profit, but he’s gonna have to be ponying up much more than 40m and a dome to make me change my mind from a resolute ‘no’. I wish there was a way to keep the team community owned. It’s not that Im against Asper owning the team (but he should pay for the team too), I just like the fact that we’re a community owned team and want it to stay that way.

If somebody like Asper stepped up out East in the Halifax / Moncton area and promised to help fund a stadium out there in a similar matter I'm guessing that it would get done in a far more timely fashion.

If Winnipeg ever hosts a Grey Cup game in the new stadium, I guess the fans will be seated outside the stadium watching the game on huge screen TV's.

The inflatable dome is for after the football season...

The same thing is done at BMO field in Toronto for the winter months.

I don’t follow. I get the whole bubble over the field thing…but how does this help increase revenue and pay the various levels of government back faster?
Is Asper trying to sell the idea that this stadium will make money? Or that it will increase tax revenue? Because, I can’t see it doing either…bubble or no bubble.
Recreational sports in the winter on a football field are going to bring in the bucks?
The bubble costs $1.8M…then $450k per year to operate. Recreational sports are going to cover that and then some? In the winter?!

You’d make more money by leaving the bubble off and building outdoor ice rinks on the field…charge to rent for hockey, figure skating…whatever.

Or is there some enormous demand for heated sheltered football fields in Winnipeg?

To me the bubble idea is trying to show that the facility can be used all year round.

Most of the outdoor stadiums in this country aren't of much use in the winter.

I see it as his way to garner a little more public support for the project by getting those who aren't necessarily football fans on board.

Used for what?!? Is there a big soccer/football demand in Winnipeg during the winter months? Track teams maybe? Or will this bubble be rented out for ‘outdoor/indoor’ weddings in the winter?
There is a reason these bubbled fields aren’t popping up all over the place, there isn’t a demand for them.
Outdoor stadiums aren’t of much use in the winter because there is no use/demand for them in the winter.

I’d love to hear what sort of things are expected to be going on in this bubble-field during the winter in Winnipeg.

If the demand is there then it really doesn't matter what the facility is used for. I don't live in Winnipeg so I can't answer your question but if that's the difference between a stadium or no stadium I don't see it as a bad thing.

If the demand was there you'd see these things all over. You'd also see CFL stadiums popping up in every city.
The problem is there is no demand for these things....not during the CFL season and not during the CFL off-season. Bubble or no bubble.
There are 'domes' like this used for tennis clubs, driving ranges, etc. If there were a demand for something like this in Winnipeg, there would already be one...no stadium required.
I just can't come up with anything this bubbled-field would possibly host in the off-season....anything that would bring in decent revenue anyway.
Honestly....will it be used for like....high school reunions? Weddings? Car shows? What?
What can this bubbled field hold that the MTS Centre can't? Aside from football and soccer? Which, there is zero demand for in the winter months.

…if you have been reading the press …you would know that a number of sporting groups (especially soccer)…have come forward and are greatly interested in the ‘bubble’…It also offers a training area in the winter months…which is almost non-existent in the Peg as of now…I think you would be hard-pressed to offer the MTS CENTRE as a training area for anything other than hockey in the winter …as there seems to be a sheet of ice in the building…The interest is definitely there for the bubble and i think this was the final impetus this project needed…It could still fail because of lack of fed. funding …but we’ll see…I guess there is going to be a political price to pay no matter which way this venture ends up…I would also add that if this proposal was in a city ‘like the centre of the universe’ with a man of Aspers calibre backing it…the place would be under construction as we speak :wink:

actually the place would probably be finished.

but there is alot of interest but a number of different places. winnipeg has no real indoor soccer facility so alot of soccer teams love the idea of having 3 indoor fields in the bubble. Lacross teams are also very interested cuz of the same problem, i don;t even know of an actual indoor lacross field in the city that could be easily set up inside the dome. the training facility is also a great benefit cuz it can be focused around certain sports, and even put up the offer of having trainers at the facility. i think many people are showing high intrest in the idea becuase it will be multi functional and make training in the winter alot easier for many sports. if you can;t see the use of it its probably cuz u have other places in ur city that serve this function already and we don't.

The bubble sounds good to me after hearing all the pros and cons put forward about it.

By the way, just an opinion, but a city is not a business. Yes there are business aspects to be considered with taxpayer money, but to act like a for-profit organization isn't beneficial to the citizens as a whole. If the city has to give up some assets to make the city as a whole, much better, than it should be done.

I would also add that if this proposal was in a city 'like the centre of the universe' with a man of Aspers calibre backing it....the place would be under construction as we speak

Yes pap but then the nicest parts of downtown Winnipeg in terms of views would be hidden by big condo units stuck side by side (just using downtown as a figure of speech for the Winnipeg situation, just talking geography here), like in Toronto with the travesty they did on the waterfront down by Queen's Quay. Money ruled there to the point they overdeveloped it and destroyed the views of the lake and the island. Too many high rise buildings there. Sometimes a bit of patience and discussion on what is best is the way to go instead of doing the Toronto type thing.

The next time winnipeg gets the Grey Cup, the game will be played inside the Dome while the fans will be watching the game, in the stands, on a couple of huge TV screens!!

The next time winnipeg gets the Grey Cup, the game will be played inside the Dome while the fans will be watching the game, in the stands, on a couple of huge TV screens!!
You didn't go to college did you?