Billionaires making cities pay for sports stadiums is something that has been going on for years. While it has been especially relevant in the NFL recently, it's something that is common in every sport, and most recently, in the city of Calgary, Alberta. The owners of the Calgary Flames, the local NHL team, have recently cut off negotiations in regards to planning a new arena, this coming after Brian Burke, the team's president of hockey operations who once threatened to fight another team's GM in a barn, came out and basically threatened to leave if they don't get a new arena. With news simultaneously coming out about how Seattle is undergoing renovations on Key Arena, making them a prime target to potentially get a new team, and more prominently, become the city that every NHL and NBA team will threaten to move to, a role they're familiar with, if they don't get taxpayer funding for a new arena. So, it's fair to examine whether or not this situation is legit.

Usually when a team moves its because of one or more of 4 reasons: the owner sold the team, the arena is a dump, the fan support isn't there, or they're losing money. In the Flames case, most of the these are unequivocally not true. The owners haven't come out at any point and said they are going to sell the team, the Flames made a profit of 18 million dollars last season (probably more in reality, but teams always like to make it look like they're making less), and the Flames consistently, if not always, fill up their arena to capacity. The issue here appears to be the stadium the Flames currently play in, the Scotiabank Saddledome (great name by the way), which according to the Flames and t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶u̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶a̶l̶w̶a̶y̶s̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶s̶ ̶b̶o̶o̶e̶d̶ NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, isn't up to par:

Using Bettman's comments as leverage, the Flames ownership came out with demands of a new arena in a suboptimal location, fully funded by public money that they didn't have to pay back, which is flat out ridiculous. Using nearby Edmonton as a comparison (who also used Seattle as leverage mind you), they're essentially going with the position of "you need this team more than it needs you, so you're gonna pay for all of it," which in Calgary's case, isn't the case. Flames owners have used this in an attempt to oust current mayor Naheed Nemshi, making the arena issue a huge debate in the upcoming election. Yet, if you look at it from literally every angle, the Flames moving seems unlikely both from an economic and a fan perspective. So it's pretty clear they will not be moving:

First of all, Calgary is being more than reasonable, seeing how they are willing to pay for a third of a 555 million dollar stadium, secondly, there really doesn't seem to be a consensus about the stadium really being a fan issue, and thirdly, as I've pointed out, the fanbase absolutely loves this team:

So, we can agree this isn't likely, so why are the owners doing this? Both sides know it isn't really about a new stadium, it's about maximizing the value of an asset, in this case, an NHL team, by not having to foot the bill for something that they can very easily afford, seeing how they're billionaires and all. The Flames are a young interesting team, in my opinion, the most interesting in the league for this upcoming season with a lot of stories ranging from their GM who smashes chairs over his leg after losses, to their young talent, to the great human interest stories to their rumors of signing the legend Jaromir Jagr. Regardless, they are very likely to be in the playoffs, if not a actual contender.

While I can understand why billionaires don't want to spend a mass amount of their fortune for a stadium when historically, cities are willing to fund them, yet morally in my opinion it's just wrong. Lately, we've seen cities like San Diego smarten up in regards to the Chargers, and not giving into their owner Dean Spanos, who chose to move the team to LA, where nobody wants them. The case made to the public for doing this is usually "it will reinvigorate the downtown" or a related area, which has been proven wrong repeatedly. Saying this, when it has been proving wrong again and again, is just insulting. Threatening to move a team like the Flames is totally unfair for a city in Calgary that has done everything right, filling out the stadium, giving them consistent profit and revenue, and frankly, becoming THE main attraction in the city. On the other hand, it isn't worth screwing over the entire economy just to put more money in billionaires' pockets. The longer they mess around with these empty threats, the more upset the fans might actually get, which might actually effect the bottomline, regardless of how the team does. While they definitely have more power then the citizens of Calgary, it's never wise to bite the hand that feeds you. As Bill Simmons once said, billionaires should pay for their own fucking stadiums:

This isn't a special case. To the Flames owners, I urge them to quit all this posturing, quit being selfish buffoons and pay up.