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Originally Posted by phil235
Possibly, but they are a professional team and at the end of the day this is all about money and where they can generate the most of it. I also think that the Charge's attendance expectations went up dramatically once they saw how well the first season went. Two years ago, when they were projecting 3500 fans a game, the prospect of a 6000 seat arena was probably not that concerning to them. But once they started averaging 7000 fans per game it became a huge issue.
Given that the discussions occurred in private and any public statements are carefully crafted to help their negotiating position, it's pretty hard to know what actually happened. Not saying the City handled it well, but I'm also not ready to villainize them based on the claims of a professional sports league owned by a billionaire in L.A. You will note that they have not at any point said that they were willing to contribute anything to the capital cost of an arena tailored to their specific needs. And I'm guessing the best interests of the city are not exactly top of mind for them.
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Exactly this. Why build to the whims of a foreign owned league/team that has zero skin in the game in Ottawa and will leave at the drop of a hat.
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