Arena scores help but team shut out
NDP game plan for NHL return
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/05/2011 (5483 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Premier Greg Selinger confirmed support for the MTS Centre and its owner in their bid to bring a National Hockey League franchise to Winnipeg.
“I’m very excited about an NHL franchise coming to Winnipeg,” Selinger said. “I think we can support it.”
But the premier made it clear any provincial support would only extend to the arena — there would be no public or taxpayer support for a hockey team.
“We’re not interested in any way subsidizing the team,” Selinger said. “The team is entirely the responsibility of the private sector.”
The Free Press reported Tuesday the province would help True North Sports and Entertainment manage the debt it has for the MTS Centre, should the NHL approve the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to True North.
One of the ways the province could support True North, sources told the Free Press Wednesday, would involve more VLTs at the Tavern United lounge located next door to the MTS Centre. The lounge’s VLT suite was opened, in large part, to create a revenue stream for the arena.
The same sources said the expansion does not include a casino, but may include some sort of sports-betting lounge. Selinger would not comment on what level of support the province could provide.
Talks between True North and the Thrashers continue with a decision expected before the end of May.
Selinger also said the MTS Centre is an important asset that “has made a huge difference in Winnipeg,” and the province played an important role in getting the facility built almost a decade ago.
The 15,000-seat downtown arena opened in the fall of 2004 at a cost of $133.5 million. Private-sector investors put up $93 million, with the province, city and Ottawa contributing $40.5 million.
Selinger also intimated he has been kept informed for some time of discussions between True North chairman Mark Chipman and the NHL to move a team to Winnipeg. “We’ve been in close touch from the very beginning of discussions, which goes back at least a year,” Selinger said.
Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen said Wednesday he supports efforts to relocate an NHL team to Winnipeg, but hopes it does not involve public money.
“I think it’s pretty well known I think Winnipeg is an NHL city,” he said, declining to speculate on the closed-door talks.
During the 2007 provincial election campaign, McFadyen said if he were elected premier, he would bring back the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets moved to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996.
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca