ah what the hell, I'll repeat it again.
BMO Field's construction and operation should be used as a model for stadiums across Canada. Not only did the arrangement allow provincial and federal government to pay only 50% of the total cost, it also gave the city ownership for only $10M. The rest was paid for by the private sector. The stadium is now operated for a profit by MLSE instead of run into the ground by municipal governments, Frank Clair being a prime example of the latter.
Now here comes the tricky part. I've tried to make this clear to argotom in the past, but i haven't made much progress yet. The city decided to sell operational control of the stadium for $8M and naming rights for $10M, both to MLSE, and put that $18M toward construction. MLSE would also be responsible for overseeing construction and any cost overruns. Argotom is mad because MLSE turned around and sold the naming rights for around $20M to BMO. Therefore, instead of MLSE paying $18M from their own pocket, that money was attained from the resale of the naming rights, AND THEN given to the government. MLSE therefore profits $2M from the stadium construction, while either way, the city gets the promised $18M.
It escapes me why this pisses argotom off. Lets imagine the scenario without MLSE's involvement: the three levels of government split the cost three ways. The city oversees construction, and being the retards that they are, costs probably jump to $90M. Congratulations, now tax payers are footing a $90M bill instead of $45M. The city then MAYBE sells the naming rights to BMO, but since they think it's only worth $10M, the private sector only pays $10M out of $90M.
Then over the years, the city runs the operations of the stadium. Since the ACC and rogers centre are both smarter than the city of toronto, the stadium loses business every year and takes massive losses. They try to recoup these losses by running up the lease for the TFC (exactly what happened at Frank Clair) to the point where the TFC folds. Congratulations, we now have an empty stadium, a sinkhole for tax dollars year after year.
Governments should NEVER have operational control of stadiums. If they can't see that naming rights are worth $20M instead of $10M, they've got no business in the operation business. This way, the city will profit every time they renew the operations contract with MLSE, instead of taking a hit from operating losses.
Now THAT was a barnes7-worthy post! lol