I didn't see this posted here yet.
As a taxpayer in the state, I'm not in favor of publicly funding these renovations for a franchise that hasn't even gone to the SCF in their entire existence. I feel that Minnesota subsidizes the league to an extent, and really doesn't receive much of anything in return. If Bettman really wants this, then in my opinion there needs to be a SCF run on the other side of the table. There has been far too many seasons without any excitement of any sort around here.
Either put out, or fund it yourself.
28 comments
Craig’s got deep pockets. He’ll manage without me chipping me.
Not sure there is much that Bettman can do for the Wild to be successful in the playoffs but they should be putting more events and stuff in Minnesota.
How about another Winter classic? That would be nice.
Also yeah why can’t our owner pay for those? He is a billionaire his arena is used by two pro teams a high school hockey tournament every year plus concerts and events he can afford to pay for some renovations when he charges $14 for a can of bud light seltzer.
Honest question; does the X even need renovations? I have zero problems with that arena, and it’s nicer than most I’ve been to.
We’ve already paid for The People’s Stadium, Target Field, and I think Target Center. Why not pay for this? It’s our responsibility as taxpayers to fund private enterprises! /s
>If Bettman really wants this, then in my opinion there needs to be a SCF run on the other side of the table
I don’t like this kind of narrative, I want to believe that it is not fixed and left up for the better team to win.
Besides this a team needs a stadium/rink/park/arena to play their home games in and it can be privately or publicly owned. As a European I’ve seen both models, especially the second one and it can work very well, like the city of St. Paul owns the X and collects the money for selling the naming rights (if they want) and they can reach an agreement for the Minnesota Wild to play their home games there.
Also if you want a bad model of a privately owned stadium look no further away than italian top football (soccer for you guys across the pond) league. In 2012 Juventus launched a crowdfunding to build a new stadium with the slogan “buy a brick for the stadium that will forever have your team’s name” and thus Juventus stadium was built. In 2017 the club sold the naming rights of the stadium. For those curious Juventus is basically the most hated club in our football league with multiple instances of match fixing (for which they were penalised alongside other top teams).
It’s true that publicly supporting this with tax dollars is annoying and unfair, but considering how little DT saint Paul has going on and how desperately it needs Xcel, he probably has enough leverage to get some tax $$
Ah, no thanks. The arena is great as is.
The only way the public should help pay for a stadium, is if we get a cut of the profits. Be that, better roads, parks, replacing funding for other city services with revenue from events.
Let’s be honest. Nobody is not NOT going to the Wild because the venue isn’t “state of the art”. Additional taxes will either subsidize the ownership group, or ticket holders/resellers.
Electronic pull tabs should be part of the solution here. Downtown St Paul was awful before the XCel was built, we don’t want a return to that.
Craig’s a billionaire and his wife is an heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune. Call me crazy, but I think he can get it.
“We need a SCF run from this!!! 🤓”
Its not WWE. This is a real sport. Stop talking like we can be gifted a cup run. The Wild will win the cup when they deserve to win it
There should be no appetite for this, but the face painter lobby usually gets their way.
There is zero threat of relocation, the NHL would never recover from a repeat of the North stars.
Tell them to pound sand
Ah yes, the old ‘you the tax payer pay for it or I, the billionaire enterprise will take my toys and go’ approach.
Bye, don’t let the door hit you on the ass. when all I hear is this or that getting budget cuts and this falling apart etc. I’D SOONER SEE MY TAX DOLLARS GO TOWARDS ACTUAL IMPROVEMENTS for the people living in the state, not the owners, not the commissioner.
Renovate these nuts. Right, fellas?
Jesus Christ, so this whole “sports are fucking worthless unless you win a championship!” is now bleeding into public funding conversations? What the hell is wrong with people?
How the team does year in and year out should have zero bearing on what does and does not receive public funds. Sure, say you want the owner to pay for it because he’s rich. I’d disagree with you but at least that argument makes some semblance of sense. This argument is just ridiculously stupid.
> Xcel Energy Center is also the heartbeat of St. Paul nightlife, so an arena renovation could trigger redevelopment around the arena and revitalize downtown with the possible addition of a hotel, residential areas, retail and restaurants.
This excerpt is so obviously written by some PR department and so obviously false, it honestly makes me think less of Russo and Smith for including it. Although I’m sure NYT told them to put it in.
No one’s going to build new hotels or restaurants because the X got new crappers and HVAC.
Bettman can go fuck himself.
Maybe Bettman doesn’t punish the team for buying out Suter and Parise so they could’ve been competitive instead of the cap hell they’re forced into
Gary Bettman was the rat bastard that allowed our North Stars to move. He can kiss my lily white ass.
If we’re not socializing the gains, why are we socializing the costs?
Let the billionaire do billionaire things and pony up the money. I would be shocked if there weren’t tax incentives for this type of investment as well.
Can’t wait to be blackmailed by a billionaire to pay for an asset i won’t own myself that he will make further fortunes on. God bless America!
The Wild play 45 games a year (approximately) at the X. 12.3% of the days of the year. The team is going to pay its share, we don’t know what the numers are yet, if it is 100M, the Wild share would be 12.3M. Would that satisfy all you pissed off hockey fans? Are my numbers wrong?
Either way, looking forward to another ticket price increase.
It’s a publicly owned building. Why would anyone pay to renovate someone else’ building? I get that people want to complain about greedy owners and whatever but come on.
I’m liberal as hell but after reading the comments I forget talking politics on reddit is like talking to a teenager that just heard Rage Against the Machine for the first time.
Gtfo
You want public funding? Fine. But it should be on the condition that all concession prices are cut down significantly. The taxpayers shouldn’t be hit twice for renovations
This is just public posturing through the media. Pro sports have shown that they don’t care about the fanbases. The met center was a trash heap in comparison to the standard arena of the time so the North Stars bolted. It’s really too bad there wasn’t more support for public funding for a new stadium or even upgrades to the met center because the north stars had the core of a future champion. Instead, we had a pro hockey drought until an expansion franchise full of has-beens and never-was’ took their place and have been mired in mediocrity ever since. The core is starting to get exciting, and they have some potential in the next 5 years if they play their cards right, and stay healthy… Seems about time for everyone to play hardball with an owner and league looking to increase revenue at any cost, including moving any hockey team unwilling to keep up their venue to the next city willing to open their pocketbook. The Houston wild hogs perhaps. Then 6 years later we can act like we’re getting some kind of great gift with another shitty expansion franchise. Sell out a shiny new arena for 10 years with nothing but retreads and a few draft picks that hit, then when a core finally develops and the arena loses its new scent, that team can start this all over again. They literally just pulled the Coyotes out of Arizona because of the stadium. SLC (no offense to their fanbase) is really not moving the NHL’s needle much other than benefitting from a new arena as the city preps for the 2034 Olympics.
#This just in: /u/stumpybubba- thinks Bettman “can play hide and go fuck himself.”