tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/calgary-flames-59018/articlesCalgary Flames – The Conversation2020-07-31T12:22:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1426202020-07-31T12:22:32Z2020-07-31T12:22:32ZWhy a Canadian hockey team’s name recalls US Civil War destruction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350483/original/file-20200730-13-fp5gmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3522%2C2340&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Czech-born goaltender for a Canadian hockey team wears a jersey recalling the 1864 burning of Atlanta, Georgia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Flames-Predators-Hockey/a0c87ed448414065a8e72a4c6e41fae8/128/0">AP Photo/Mark Zaleski</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the National Hockey League gets its abbreviated season back underway, a team with a name hearkening back to the Civil War will <a href="https://www.nhl.com/flames/schedule/2020-08-01/MT">take the ice</a> – in Canada.</p>
<p>In September 1864, having conquered the city of Atlanta, U.S. Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman proposed marching his army to the coastal city of Savannah, Georgia, destroying railroads, factories, farms and other major sources of Confederate power along the way. <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/rethinking-shermans-march/">Sherman’s March to the Sea</a> was an example of a military strategy called, in Sherman’s words, the “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm">hard hand of war</a>,” in which an army destroys not only military targets but takes supplies from the residents, leaving the civilian population demoralized and short of food and shelter.</p>
<p>In 2017, I was in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for a conference, when I took an opportunity to see a hockey game between the Calgary Flames and the Ottawa Senators. There, as I sat high up in the seats with a beer and a burger, the word “Flames” was in the air, and a light show depicted flames on the ice and around the arena’s perimeter. I wondered if I, an early American historian, was the only person in the place thinking about how a 21st-century hockey team connected with Gen. Sherman’s 1864 Atlanta campaign and the destructive journey to Savannah.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Soldiers chop up railroad tracks and burn buildings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350498/original/file-20200730-13-10ifgwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 1864, the Union Army destroyed railroad tracks and burned buildings in Georgia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.09326/">Alexander Hay Ritchie engraving after F.O.C. Darley drawing.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A city ablaze</h2>
<p>There were actually two conflagrations of Atlanta – one that was authorized and another that was not. </p>
<p>The Sherman-authorized burning targeted Confederate military resources, including machine shops, railroad depots and arsenals. When the fires reached munitions housed in a machine shop, the explosion made the Atlanta night “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm">hideous</a>,” Sherman wrote. </p>
<p>Despite orders that nonmilitary structures not be torched, Union soldiers drunk with either rage or with spirits went on to burn much more. As the fire spread, Sherman noted that “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm">the heart of the city was in flames all night</a>.” </p>
<p>When Sherman and his army rode out of Atlanta on the morning of November 16, 1864, he and others looked back “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm">upon the scenes of our past battles</a>.” There stood Atlanta, Sherman recalled, “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm">smouldering and in ruins</a>, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city.” </p>
<p>As they left the ruined city behind, a band “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm">struck up the anthem</a> of ‘<a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010565/">John Brown’s soul goes marching on</a>’; the men caught up the strain, and never before or since have I heard the chorus of ‘Glory, glory, hallelujah!’ done with more spirit, or in better harmony of time and place.” </p>
<p>Ulysses S. Grant, the Union commander who would later become the 18th president of the United States, commented in his memoirs that Gen. Sherman’s Atlanta campaign “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4367/4367-h/4367-h.htm">was managed with the most consummate skill</a>” and “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4367/4367-h/4367-h.htm">was one of the most memorable in history</a>.” Grant, like others, argued that its <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4367/4367-h/4367-h.htm">success contributed to Abraham Lincoln being elected</a> to a second – and, as it turned out, fatal – term. “The news of Sherman’s success reached the North instantaneously, and <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4367/4367-h/4367-h.htm">set the country all aglow</a>,” Grant wrote.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An 1864 photo of Atlanta, showing chimney stacks where buildings used to be." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350523/original/file-20200730-33-jpz3qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In November 1864, downtown Atlanta stood in ruins, with chimney stacks showing where buildings used to be.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2005681133/">George N. Barnard/Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Southerners, of course, saw Sherman’s fiery and destructive march differently. Southern writer Eliza Andrews, then 24, <a href="https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/andrews/andrews.html">wrote in her journal</a> during the war that “The dwellings that were standing all showed signs of pillage, and on every plantation we saw the charred remains of the gin-house and packing-screw, while here and there, lone chimney-stacks, ‘Sherman’s Sentinels,’ told of homes laid in ashes. The infamous wretches[!]” </p>
<p>According to Sherman biographer James Lee McDonough, Sherman’s name would “<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/William-Tecumseh-Sherman/">come to symbolize that terrible time in Atlanta</a>, when a deep and lasting scar, which rankles to this day, was created in the hearts of many Southerners.”</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="332" src="https://player.pbs.org/viralplayer/2365546468/" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" seamless="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<h2>A wound that still burns</h2>
<p>More than a century later, the National Hockey League decided to add a team in Atlanta, as well as one in New York. To select a name for the Atlanta team, its owner, the real-estate developer and owner of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, Tom Cousins, held a contest in 1971 that received 10,000 entries.</p>
<p>The name chosen was “Flames,” though hockey writer Stephen Laroche notes in his book “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/changing-the-game-a-history-of-nhl-expansion/oclc/967847196&referer=brief_results">Changing the Game: The History of NHL Expansion</a>,” that it got only 198 of the total ballots.</p>
<p>Even in the early 1970s the memory still burned of Union troops under Sherman’s command setting fire not only to factories, farms and warehouses but also to homes and shops in the city center that were destroyed in the unauthorized fire.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two hockey players vie for control of the puck." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350490/original/file-20200730-33-1pjyblb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the 1970s, the Flames called Atlanta home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Blackhawks-Flames-Mikita/f787161f5a4f4f1d8d17995650d22970/71/0">AP Photo/Joe Holloway Jr.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By bringing the Atlanta Flames into the NHL, the league began its own march into the South. It was a slow start, but the sport would eventually win over fans in the former Confederacy. In the 2020 season, the <a href="https://www.nhl.com/standings/2019/conference">NHL has teams in Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas and Florida</a> – which has two.</p>
<p>A group of Canadian businessmen led by Nelson Skalbania bought the Flames and moved the team to Calgary after the 1979-1980 season. They <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/name-game-football-baseball-hockey-basketball-how-your-favorite-sports-teams-were-named/oclc/1083042707&referer=brief_results">kept the name</a> because some of the team’s new owners were in the oil industry, which is also associated with flames.</p>
<h2>Named for calamity</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A basketball player dunks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350487/original/file-20200730-35-1fdvwcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The University of Illinois at Chicago Flames are named for a different fire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/flames-guard-braelen-bridges-with-the-slam-dunk-during-the-news-photo/1206487220?adppopup=true">Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Naming a sports team after a destructive event may seem peculiar. Strangely, it is not – especially when it comes to destruction by fire. I’m writing from a suburb of Chicago, where the <a href="http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1740.html">Great Fire of 1871</a> killed 300 people, destroyed more than 18,000 buildings, and left homeless more than 100,000 people – a third of the city’s population. It also provided scorching monikers for the professional soccer team, the <a href="https://www.chicagofirefc.com/">Chicago Fire</a>, the <a href="https://uicflames.com/">University of Illinois at Chicago Flames</a> and the short-lived <a href="https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/World_Football_League">World Football League team from Chicago</a>, also called the Fire for its one and only season in 1974.</p>
<p>Also, the <a href="https://www.nhl.com/avalanche/">Colorado Avalanche</a>, the <a href="https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/">Carolina Hurricanes</a>, and the <a href="https://cyclones.com/">Iowa State Cyclones</a> are all named after devastating natural forces. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The Atlanta Flames were unique, however, for being named after an intentional destructive event, not a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/why-named-carolina-hurricanes-florence-sports-teams-natural-disaster-1120674">force of nature or a natural tragedy</a>.</p>
<p>The Civil War echoes elsewhere in the NHL, too, with the <a href="https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> – the only team from Sherman’s home state of Ohio – which celebrates the Blue Jackets’ goals with <a href="https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/cannon-crew-blue-jackets-goal-celebration/c-305805094">booming cannon fire</a>. As professional hockey resumes across North America, even fans newly aware of the country’s struggle with the legacy of slavery may not be thinking about their Civil War history. But the team names are there to remind them anyway.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hockey player controls the puck behind his own net." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350485/original/file-20200730-27-1mdv0mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Are the Columbus Blue Jackets still fighting for the Union?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Wild-Blue-Jackets-Hockey/1192b2b3cf574c0b8e23c135eaa07b51/116/0">AP Photo/Paul Vernon</a></span>
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</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142620/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher J. Young does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A 21st-century hockey team is connected with Gen. Sherman’s Atlanta campaign and the destructive journey to Savannah.Christopher J. Young, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Director of the Center for Innovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning, and Professor of History, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1212082019-07-31T22:57:20Z2019-07-31T22:57:20ZIs the new Calgary event centre in the public interest? No one knows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286255/original/file-20190730-186819-10f0sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C75%2C1066%2C523&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's rendering of the proposed new Calgary event centre.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">City of Calgary/Rossetti</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Calgary Flames recently made a marquee signing. Of course, the new contract is not for a player, but a new event centre. </p>
<p>Like last year’s big signing by the Flames of right-winger James Neal, who was lauded as a huge acquisition and then traded away after a disappointing season, everyone is wondering if this will be the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/flames-well-signing-sniper-james-neal/">“real deal”</a> <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/diary-of-james-neals-lost-season-with-the-calgary-flames-but-hope-for-edmonton-oilers-future">or another bust</a>.</p>
<p>The Calgary agreement to build a new event centre came about <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/102579-how-did-you-go-bankrupt-two-ways-gradually-then-suddenly">gradually, then suddenly</a>. In 2017, negotiations resembled a nuclear winter — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-nenshi-flames-tweet-1.4358870">a blast</a> followed by a freeze. Despite the official silence, negotiations carried on quietly. The city <a href="https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=79458">created a committee</a> to look into an “event centre” — not an “arena” or “stadium,” but an “event centre.” On July 22, 2019, a deal was announced.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Documents/Event-Centre-One-Page-Overview.pdf">Economic discussions about the deal</a> are well-worn, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5674688/economists-calgary-arena-deal/">with many</a> <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-calgarys-arena-deal-raises-difficult-questions-for-the-city">commentators</a> weighing in on <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/braid-over-the-long-haul-to-arena-deal-city-hall-won">the new venue.</a> Most agree, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-arena-funding-deal-approved-1.5230639">and city council heard</a>, that the economic benefits will probably be minimal. Regardless, <a href="https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-city-council-approves-deal-for-new-event-centre-1.4529241">Calgary city council has approved the event centre in an 11-4 vote.</a></p>
<p>In my opinion, there are two more important questions than how many dollars will be generated by the arena. </p>
<p>First, did the people of Calgary have a meaningful say on the deal? Second, who really benefits?</p>
<h2>Limiting public participation</h2>
<p>In a piece for <em>The Conversation Canada</em> almost a year ago, I pointed out that stadium deals are frequently undemocratic.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/offside-the-secret-deals-involving-public-money-for-sports-stadiums-102160">Offside: The secret deals involving public money for sports stadiums</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>City councils often vote on stadium deals with little to no consultation with the public. They use a similar justification that Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/calgary-city-council-approves-arena-deal-nhls-flames/">used at the vote</a> to approve the event centre: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In times when the public is split, elected officials have to look at everything, in which public input is one aspect, and make the decision they think is right for the community and we do that every day.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I agree with Nenshi’s broad point. Elected representatives are there to make decisions on behalf of the people. But stadium subsidies for hundreds of millions of dollars are a big deal. At a minimum, any stadium deal should be transparent and allow for public participation in the process.</p>
<p>This deal is not fully transparent. After all, following the collapse of the 2017 negotiations, the Flames said they would only resume negotiations <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-city-council-arena-flames-1.4713493">if the media and public were not informed</a> until an agreement was reached. The team got its wish.</p>
<p>The agreement presented to the public was not a final contract, but more of a framework deal. That’s to be expected. It’s common to agree on the main points of a major deal before hammering out the final contract. But, even during the short time frame for consultation, significant questions had yet to be answered, and more details, <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/cost-overruns-on-arena-project-would-be-shared-cmlc-says">such as who will cover cost overruns</a>, were only trickling out. </p>
<p>Compounding matters, Calgary’s city council allowed only limited public participation. While it allowed a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-olympic-plebiscite-1.4902477">non-binding plebiscite over hosting the Olympic Games</a>, no such vote would be forthcoming on the event centre deal. </p>
<p>Instead, citizens were initially given <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-arena-deal-timeline-scrutiny-1.5222311">less than four days</a> to comment, with city council <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/council-could-vote-on-arena-deal-as-early-as-next-week">voting down a longer period of consultation</a>. Council eventually <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-arena-events-centre-extended-vote-tuesday-1.5227397">gave citizens an extra weekend to weigh in</a>.</p>
<p>The extending of the consultation deadline seems to be part of a pattern of a “will we or won’t we” approach to public participation in major city decisions. The $60 million in municipal budget cuts, made the day after the event centre agreement was announced, was initially going to be made without public input, <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/council-reverses-course-on-decision-to-bar-public-input-on-cuts">before council changed its mind</a>.</p>
<p>When city council met to approve the stadium, they were informed that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-arena-funding-deal-approved-1.5230639">more than 5,200 residents made their views known</a>. How much consideration did public input receive in council’s decision? Did anyone go through the comments? Surely it would be difficult for city council and staff to sift through thousands of comments and meaningfully address them only one evening after the deadline.</p>
<p>Counc. Jeff Davison dispensed of any pretense that public input would be seriously considered when he opened the meeting by saying: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-arena-funding-deal-approved-1.5230639">“Now is not the time to amend a signed multi-party agreement.”</a></p>
<h2>Who benefits?</h2>
<p>Mayor Nenshi, meantime, had tweeted that the city should not expect “untold economic benefit” from the new event centre.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1153481695854620672"}"></div></p>
<p>This is a sober, and likely correct, take by the mayor. And it leaves open the question: How <em>will</em> the city of Calgary benefit from its investment? What is the “public good” being created?</p>
<p>On the <a href="https://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Pages/Capital-Projects-Victoria-Park-Event-Centre.aspx">“event centre” section of the city of Calgary’s website</a>, there is mention of some vague improvements in civic pride and “social impact.” There are no concrete benefits listed. There’s no mention of, say, job placement programs for vulnerable populations. Or a community benefits agreement that was part of the <a href="https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/documents/PDF/Arena_Master_Agreement.pdf">Edmonton Arena deal</a>. </p>
<p>An announcement of these types of initiatives might be forthcoming, but it’s unlikely. If they already existed, they likely would have been announced before the agreement was voted on by council. If the initiatives don’t exist, it will probably be impossible for council to amend the agreement now that it’s been signed.</p>
<p>Just as the benefits are unclear, so too is the pricetag. The true costs of stadium subsidies are a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1983447">notoriously complex business</a>. The Calgary deal is being presented as the city chipping in a few hundred million dollars to help the Flames build a place to play. But stadium deals often contain other hidden subsidy mechanisms, such as reduced rent, tax breaks and the like.</p>
<p>One hidden subsidy appears to be in the naming rights agreement. The city is claiming a victory in getting <a href="https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=99772">“$250,000 per year for 10 years in recognition of the naming rights for the Event Centre.”</a> It seems like the Flames are buying from the city the right to sell naming rights.</p>
<p>But how much do naming rights sell for? The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/scotiabank-arena-naming-rights-1.4271688">Maple Leafs/Raptors sold the naming rights to their arena for $40 million a year</a> in 2017 to Scotiabank. The Montreal Canadiens sold their naming rights for <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/molson-centre-renamed-bell-centre-1.323185">$5 million annually back in 2002</a>. </p>
<p>Let’s say the Flames sell these naming rights for $5 million a year. If they are only paying the city $250,000 per year for that right, this leaves the Flames with a profit of $4.75 million per year for the 10 years. That’s money that isn’t going to the city. If the city sold the rights themselves, could they have used that money for other public initiatives?</p>
<p>Another outstanding question remains: What happens to this naming rights deal after 10 years? The overall deal is for 35 years, after all. Will it be renegotiated? Does it simply end? How can we know? </p>
<h2>Public money should mean a public process</h2>
<p>None of this is to suggest Calgary and the Flames should not have a new arena. </p>
<p>The Saddledome is old and needs replacing. It’s also common practice for cities to subsidize arenas, against all economic sense. So it’s almost inevitable that Calgary would foot at least some of the bill for a new event centre.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286260/original/file-20190730-186805-qqpkoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286260/original/file-20190730-186805-qqpkoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286260/original/file-20190730-186805-qqpkoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286260/original/file-20190730-186805-qqpkoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286260/original/file-20190730-186805-qqpkoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286260/original/file-20190730-186805-qqpkoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286260/original/file-20190730-186805-qqpkoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Saddledome in September 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But Calgary had a chance get a better deal for the city than the Edmonton deal — not in dollars and cents, but in process and public benefit. </p>
<p>Based on the limited information provided by city council, and the decision to ram this deal through so quickly, it’s hard to say that’s been accomplished.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=thanksforreading">Thanks for reading! We can send you The Conversation’s stories every day in an informative email. Sign up today.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Gauthier received funding from the Thompson Rivers University Internal Research Fund in 2017 to research stadium agreements.</span></em></p>Have the people of Calgary had a meaningful say on the deal for a new event centre? And who’s really benefiting?Ryan Gauthier, Assistant Professor of Law, Thompson Rivers UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1021602018-09-03T13:52:35Z2018-09-03T13:52:35ZOffside: The secret deals involving public money for sports stadiums<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234351/original/file-20180830-195316-zsresl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Edmonton's new NHL arena opened in 2016 and was partially funded by $226 million from the City of Edmonton.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The new hockey season is almost here. As training camps open and players return to the ice, another great sports tradition is back in full swing: the debate over whether professional teams should receive public funds to build new arenas and stadiums.</p>
<p>The Calgary Flames and the Ottawa Senators are the latest teams working on this power play.</p>
<p>The Flames want to replace <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-saddledome-nhl-arenas-1.4284445">the 35-year-old Saddledome</a>. Billionaire Murray Edwards, one of the wealthiest Canadians and the owner of the Flames, is <a href="https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/calgary-flames-owner-eyes-more-than-just-a-new-arena/article36521316/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links">looking for public money for his team’s new home</a>.</p>
<p>The Senators want to move out of the Ottawa suburb of Kanata into a new downtown location. Billionaire Eugene Melnyk, the owner of the Senators, <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/melnyk-senators-staying-ottawa-long-time/">is not looking for public money for his new arena</a> but is still negotiating terms to build on federally owned land near the Canadian War Museum.</p>
<p>Both of these negotiations are taking place <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-s-new-world-class-arena-rogers-place-opens-its-doors-1.3753743">under the shadow of Edmonton’s new arena</a>. Opened in 2016, Rogers Place cost <a href="https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/rogers_place/the-agreement.aspx">$483.5 million</a> to build. The Edmonton Oilers paid $132.5 million, the City of Edmonton kicked in $226 million through a combination of city funds and a new local property tax, and fans will hand over $125 million through a ticket tax. Edmonton’s arena has set a precedent in Canada.</p>
<h2>Poor investments for cities</h2>
<p>Using public money has been a feature of sports in the United States since the 1950s, even though economists are almost unanimous in finding that <a href="https://econjwatch.org/articles/do-economists-reach-a-conclusion-on-subsidies-for-sports-franchises-stadiums-and-mega-events">cities receive little economic benefit from stadiums</a>.</p>
<p>New jobs created by a stadium are part-time and low-wage, such as ushers or concession workers. Without a new stadium, construction <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/calgary-saddledome-arena-ken-king-naheed-nenshi/">workers would simply build other things</a>. Local businesses <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1527002516641168">might benefit a bit from a new stadium</a>, but it’s unclear. If cities are building stadiums to stimulate the economy, they would be better off having the <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/why-do-mayors-love-sports-stadiums/">mayor throw money out of a helicopter</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234352/original/file-20180830-195331-cwv92s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234352/original/file-20180830-195331-cwv92s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234352/original/file-20180830-195331-cwv92s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234352/original/file-20180830-195331-cwv92s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234352/original/file-20180830-195331-cwv92s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234352/original/file-20180830-195331-cwv92s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234352/original/file-20180830-195331-cwv92s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Calgary Flames are asking for public funding to build a new arena to replace the Saddledome, built in the 1980s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the gravy train won’t stop. Between 2005 and 2017, <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/jsm.2012-0210">39 stadiums in North America were approved</a> to be built with public subsidies. It seems that nothing will stop politicians from handing over public dollars to professional sports teams. The state of <a href="http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/detroit-billionaires-get-us450m-hockey-arena-as-city-suffers-under-bankruptcy">Michigan granted permission for Detroit to sell $450 million in bonds</a> to finance a new hockey arena only six days after Detroit claimed bankruptcy.</p>
<h2>Undemocratic deals</h2>
<p>Compounding the poor economic outcomes is the undemocratic nature of many stadium deals. Politicians are unlikely to risk the public vote on stadium funding. Instead, city councils vote on the deals that they negotiate with the teams.</p>
<p>These negotiations are increasingly being done behind closed doors.</p>
<p>A deal to build a new stadium for the Atlanta Braves in Cobb Country, Ga., wasn’t revealed to the public until after the fact. Team president John Schurerholz was <a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/sports/mlb/atlanta-braves/braves-president-cobb-deal-had-to-be-kept-under-wraps/253151902">unapologetic for the secrecy</a>.</p>
<p>“If it had leaked out, this deal would not have gotten done…people would have started taking the position of ‘We don’t want that to happen. We want to see how viable this was going to be,’ ” said Schurerholz.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234353/original/file-20180830-195319-5gsbzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234353/original/file-20180830-195319-5gsbzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234353/original/file-20180830-195319-5gsbzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234353/original/file-20180830-195319-5gsbzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234353/original/file-20180830-195319-5gsbzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234353/original/file-20180830-195319-5gsbzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234353/original/file-20180830-195319-5gsbzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fireworks go off over SunTrust Park after the Atlanta Braves played their first game in the new stadium in 2017. More than $300 million in public funds went toward the stadium’s construction, but the public wasn’t told about the deal until after the fact.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David Goldman)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When the Cobb County Board of Commissioners finally held a public hearing before approving over $300 million in subsidies, only 12 people were allowed to speak. Others who requested time to speak were <a href="http://www.myajc.com/news/cobb-approves-major-braves-stadium-agreements/VlgOPijPkz6hyKurCvZ9dL/#c4182e7d.3533006.73538">“escorted from the room.”</a></p>
<p>The removal of transparency and public participation is not just an American problem. The Calgary Flames recently said they would only resume negotiations for a new arena <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-city-council-arena-flames-1.4713493">if the media and public are not informed</a> until an agreement is reached.</p>
<p>Without public involvement, team owners only need to cozy up to city council, rather than make their pitch to hundreds of thousands of citizens. This situation increases the risk that a deal will not consider the benefit to the public, and also runs the risk of outright corruption.</p>
<p>What happens after the stadium is built, and promises about jobs and economic benefits aren’t kept by the team? Probably nothing. In Edmonton, promises to hire people from low-income neighbourhoods around the arena were only <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-s-rogers-place-community-benefits-don-t-stack-up-to-projects-in-other-cities-critics-1.3738014">partially kept</a>.</p>
<p>In Winnipeg, the province of Manitoba <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/auditor-general-investors-group-field-report-1.4767185">recently wrote off $118 million</a> owed on Investors Group Field, a new football stadium that opened in 2013. The former politicians involved in making that deal <a href="https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/silence-is-deafening-on-stadium-debt-489482241.html">have been silent</a>. That’s not unusual: once a team begins playing in a new stadium, it seems only the on-field performance matters anymore.</p>
<p>The lack of democracy, transparency and accountability matters for stadiums — and also for hosting major sporting events.</p>
<p>As Calgary works on <a href="http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Calgary-2026-Olympic-bid/Olympics-Bid-2026.aspx">a bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics</a>, and Canada prepares to <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4271236/2026-fifa-world-cup-canada-venues-stadiums/">co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup</a>, more calls for building sporting infrastructure with public money will come.</p>
<p>While new stadiums and sport infrastructure can have some benefits — the 2010 Winter Olympics were <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouver-olympics-worth-the-7-billion-price-tag-study-says/article15036916/">considered a success</a> — the risk of a fiasco like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/06/40-year-hangover-1976-olympic-games-broke-montreal-canada">Montréal’s billion-dollar deficit and a new “Big Owe”</a> is always lurking.</p>
<p>What can citizens do? They can demand that politicians and builders of stadiums be held accountable for the stadiums they build. They can demand that promises of community benefits are made concrete — and in writing. Construction and operation of a stadium should be overseen by an independent watchdog. Finally, there should be consequences for those who do not live up to their promises and who engage in corruption or other financial malfeasance.</p>
<p>As the old saying goes, you get rich by spending other people’s money. This won’t stop team owners and politicians from spending money on stadiums. But we can at least demand that these stadiums benefit the public whose money is being spent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102160/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Gauthier received funding from the Thompson Rivers University Internal Research Fund to support this research. </span></em></p>The Calgary Flames are the latest pro sports team asking for public funds for a new arena. Cities across North America help fund sports facilities, but with little transparency and accountabilityRyan Gauthier, Assistant Professor of Law, Thompson Rivers UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.