Should the Province, City subsidize the Jets?

Millions to aid True North
Province, city chip in $6.9M

"WINNIPEGGERS aren't just cheering for the Jets, they're also
funnelling $6.9 million to True North Sports & Entertainment this
year through city and provincial subsidies for pro sports teams.

And public support for the NHL club will climb to almost $11 million a
year, once the province completes the transfer of 90 VLTs to the
vicinity of the MTS Centre."

"Given True North's demonstrated success, it's not clear why two
levels of government are supporting the business, said Colin Craig of
the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.


"I support the Winnipeg Jets, but you have a very, very profitable
company. It's legitimate to ask why the taxpayer has to give the Jets
special tax breaks," Craig said.

I get 4 cheques from the government for being old, and I immediately send 1 in to the Jets to make sure they stay profitable and stay in Winnipeg.

We suffered for 16 years not being a "world class" City, and had to depend on the CMHR building to return that designation to the City!

The Jets give us double world class designation!

Hard to believe the Jets would not be profitable without the taxpayer assistance.
It seems every store I go into has jumped on the Jets bandwagon to sell merchandise.
And the arena is sold out for at least 3 years.
Heck I do not know if it is true or not. But I heard there is even a Timmies franchise in the MTS centre which is owned by the Jets.
And every Timmies I have ever been in is like a licence to print money.

Wow. A story trying to evoke the emotions of the anti-NHL crowd. Surprise surprise.

Yup, biggest mistake was to bring back an international pro sport franchise to Winnipeg because now we can't get more potholes filled.

EdWin wrote:Wow. A story trying to evoke the emotions of the anti-NHL crowd. Surprise surprise.

Yup, biggest mistake was to bring back an international pro sport franchise to Winnipeg because now we can't get more potholes filled.

The Free Press needs to sell papers, I figure, hence the anti-NHL fan article. It will never happen, but I wish we had a better newspaper in town.

I've always maintained that an NHL team, a very well run NHL team, would at best break even in Winnipeg over the course of a season. And that they could only turn a profit when they get into the play-off's.

TNSE though is different. They have a big-picture dynamic going that helps TNSE be very profitable. The arena.

Every event subsidises the arena. That subsidy allows the Jets the luxury of maximizing profits. It also would be most lucrative to the owners.

That said, should municipal, provincial and federal politicians have caved into a request for help? Probably not. But who would have had nads large enough to say no when their no might be the no that prevented the return of tje Jets?

And which sane business person would not ask for help?

Now it is up to the hypocrites in the world to justify why one venue is taxpayer worthy and one is not...

Triniman wrote:Millions to aid True North
Province, city chip in $6.9M

"WINNIPEGGERS aren't just cheering for the Jets, they're also
funnelling $6.9 million to True North Sports & Entertainment this
year through city and provincial subsidies for pro sports teams.

And public support for the NHL club will climb to almost $11 million a
year, once the province completes the transfer of 90 VLTs to the
vicinity of the MTS Centre."

"Given True North's demonstrated success, it's not clear why two
levels of government are supporting the business, said Colin Craig of
the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.


"I support the Winnipeg Jets, but you have a very, very profitable
company. It's legitimate to ask why the taxpayer has to give the Jets
special tax breaks," Craig said.

Congratulations on answering Rosens challenge about getting some action this discussion board on the weekend.

grumpy old man wrote:I've always maintained that an NHL team, a very well run NHL team, would at best break even in Winnipeg over the course of a season. And that they could only turn a profit when they get into the play-off's.

TNSE though is different. They have a big-picture dynamic going that helps TNSE be very profitable. The arena.

Every event subsidises the arena. That subsidy allows the Jets the luxury of maximizing profits. It also would be most lucrative to the owners.

That said, should municipal, provincial and federal politicians have caved into a request for help? Probably not. But who would have had nads large enough to say no when their no might be the no that prevented the return of yje Jets?

And which sane business person would not ask for help?

Now it is up to the hypocrites in the world to justify why one venue is taxpayer worthy and one is not...

You mean like 7-11 which saves me the trouble to go to Sobeys when I run out of milk?

Chipman should explain things, rather than have people speculate.

Triniman wrote:Chipman should explain things, rather than have people speculate.

I say that we don't bother wasting time with that. Chipman is a LYING SOB!!! He is stealing hard-earned money and putting it towards something that will show little benefit for the community. How DARE he be so selfish??? He doesn't care about Winnipeg, he only cares about lining his pockets and nothing more!!!! Grrr.

This whole thing is a SHAM!! This team, these tax back-room deals, the supposed SHED development; SHAM!!! None of it will ever make a difference to the city in a positive way! You want to talk about crime downtown, well this bilking of the Manitoba tax payers is the BIGGEST crime of all!!! I want this scum-sucking tax scam-artist team gone soon! That money can then be redirected to important things like more Manitoba Housing downtown, going straight into indians pockets because, you know, we DID steal THEIR land afterall, filling up potholes, more police to fight crime because THAT will do the trick yessssssirrrrrrr!

Again, the Jets and Chipman are bag eggs in a piss-poor town. Nobody will support this team come two years from now and then they will be gone again!!!! Let's just get rid of them NOW and save the city more embarrassment!!!!

If things were explained, I can see tax payers wanting to subsidize the team to a greater extent than they are now. Especially if they make the playoffs!

Fortunately, there are enough pragmatic thinkers who understand that investing in the Jets is a smart move.

Go Jets!

I say we give him 22.7 million per year......

Riddle:

Why is the entertainment industry different than almost any other industry in North America

Deank wrote:I say we give him 22.7 million per year......

At least that amount if we want to build a Stanley Cup contender. Should buy us a couple of snipers.

Triniman wrote:

Deank wrote:I say we give him 22.7 million per year......

At least that amount if we want to build a Stanley Cup contender. Should buy us a couple of snipers.

When was the last time that a team was able to buy themselves a Stanley Cup winning team?

The Jets need to develop their current roster and not worry about paying $7m per year for a player most likely past their prime.

Buying good snipers is a way to help a competitive team, no?

sputnik wrote:

Triniman wrote:

Deank wrote:I say we give him 22.7 million per year......

At least that amount if we want to build a Stanley Cup contender. Should buy us a couple of snipers.

When was the last time that a team was able to buy themselves a Stanley Cup winning team?

The Jets need to develop their current roster and not worry about paying $7m per year for a player most likely past their prime.

A better question is why NHL Teams pay $7m for a player who is performing like a $2m player. In almost any other industry the under-performing employee would be taking a serious cut in pay or be out on his ear.

Even with these tax incentives, and gaming revenues, the team is in the black. And will probably remain that way as time goes on. Mark Chippman didn't become a billionaire making poor financial decisions. I would assume that there is a long term plan for the profitability of the team in this city.

Having said that however, why is this a Jets issue? The city and the province do this all the time for other organizations. How many times has the province gone to bat for MotorCoach, or Bristol Aerospace? Aside from that as a business TNSE is ensuring that they like any other company is taking advantage of tax incentives, and loopholes. Sorry I can't fault them for that, however they could also turn that tax refund back into the community as well. Good promotion for the Jets, and the city. The money gets funneled back into the community and everyone wins. The Jets will grow into this community like the old Jets did.

I'll bet Chipman will be thrilled to learn he is a billionaire. Did you mean Thompson?

As to returning to the community TNSE has set up a foundation that delivers hundreds and hundreds of thousands to charitable causes that simply could not be delivered to that extent if not for the Jets presence in Winnipeg.

In the ops view it is pragmatic thinkers that can agree that investing in the Jets, the arena and the stadium is good. Those same pragmatic thinkers can't possible agree with more controversial investments.

Yeah the other guy.

Triniman wrote:Buying good snipers is a way to help a competitive team, no?

How many available snipers are worth the money these days?

Kane is having a great year and has as many goals as Tavares and Ovechkin and more goals than the likes of Iginla, Kovalchuk, Nash, Alfredsson and Lecavalier with less games played.

Winnipeg will do much better developing their talent and finding young or under rated hard working players (i.e. Wellwood, Wheeler etc) to create offense.

The last thing the Jets need is some overpaid "superstar" stinking up the dressing room with their long term $7+ million salary without the offense to justify the cost.

Two words

WAYNE GRETZKY!

Who?

sputnik wrote:

Triniman wrote:Buying good snipers is a way to help a competitive team, no?

How many available snipers are worth the money these days?

Kane is having a great year and has as many goals as Tavares and Ovechkin and more goals than the likes of Iginla, Kovalchuk, Nash, Alfredsson and Lecavalier with less games played.

Winnipeg will do much better developing their talent and finding young or under rated hard working players (i.e. Wellwood, Wheeler etc) to create offense.

The last thing the Jets need is some overpaid "superstar" stinking up the dressing room with their long term $7+ million salary without the offense to justify the cost.

I agree with this, I like the Jets core, let them build properly, soon enough Wheeler and Kane will be making that kind of money anyway. The only UFA I would go after is Parise in NJ, only if he wants to play here