Why Quebec City deserves a hockey team
Posted 2:03 PM ET | Comments 0
In the wake of the Quebec governement announcing that they will put forth 45% of the cost for a new arena in in the Quebec capital, I believe it's time for the city to get a team. The first major issue is finding the new Ramparts. The Coyotes, Panthers, Islanders, Predators and Thrashers are all in financial trouble and could all very well be moved. There are many suitors willing to buy the team, most notably Karl Peladeau, the multimillionaire Quebecor boss. The expected price for a new arena would be 400 million dollars, and the Quebec governement has already promised 180 million of that. The federal governement is also being asked for 45% of the cost and the last 40 million could be split within the municipal governement and the population's taxes. Though some will be resentful to spend the money on a new arena, the city would get back around 8.4 million a year in profit just form the arena alone. The average profit of the Canadian teams in 2009 was 112.5 million dollars and the Remparts hockey mad market could come very close to that. The Quebec City metropolitain area has a population of around 700 thousand people and though that would be the smallest in the NHL, you would have to figure that the team would be able to sellout a 20 thousand seat stadium on a nightly basis. The major obstacle in the way is Gary Bettman and his strange resiliency to keep his teams in the U.S. He has, though, previously said the Quebec could be a candidate for a team and as the American econonmy and dollar gets worse, he will eventually have to start to allow the relocation of certain teams. And as a Habs fan, I would love to see the re-establishment of the provincial battle. Hope to see the Remparts back one day.