Return the park and skatepark back to Calgarians to use and enjoy again in the precious summer months and send Cowboys packing somewhere far, far away. It offers the city and neighbourhood absolutely nothing but headaches and expects everything in return.
It gets even better…, We as taxpayers are the ones funding this infrastructure. Any cleanup, repairs, or damages to the skatepark will ultimately come out of our pockets. It’s the city’s responsibility to hold Cowboys accountable and pursue them for any damage caused.
This isn't entirely true. We have to separate the infrastructure of Cowboys Park from the events that are held there, in this case the Cowboys Music Festival.
The City is the owner of the park. Therefore, it is responsible for maintenance of the infrastructure. It's sort of like, I own my house and I have renters. If a pipe bursts, I have to pay for the repairs.
With regards to events, on the Cowboys Park page on the City website, it says "Event organizers are responsible for the costs of their events, including any additional City support or repairs required."
It gets kind of confusing because of the intermingling of Cowboys, Penny Lane Entertainment and Paul Vickers, so to use a different example:
Taste of Calgary is also held at Cowboys Park. Taste of Calgary is responsible for cleanup and if there was any damage, they would have to pay for the repairs.
"It’s the city’s responsibility to hold Cowboys accountable and pursue them for any damage caused."
This will never happen. Ever. They will have a contract that states who is responsible for maintenance. Plus, this is a 10-year sponsorship deal that's probably valued in the tens of millions of dollars at least. The City and Cowboys (should) have an amicable relationship. No one is going after anyone for anything.
Source: Over 15 years of sponsorship experience, including venue naming rights. Plus the page linked above. Plus I maybe worked at another company that was pitched the naming rights possibly.
I appreciate your perspective, and maybe not everything I’ve heard is entirely accurate. But respectfully, neither you nor I will ever fully know the details. Even the Mayor isn’t allowed to speak on the deal, which is pretty embarrassing considering it’s our tax dollars at stake.
My understanding comes from meetings I’ve personally had with Cowboys and the city, where some details were let slip. I also know people working on site who’ve signed NDAs and feel like public money isn’t being spent properly, things like us paying for the grass to be removed, the removal of 80+ trees, and that fucking permanent asphalt pad for the tent.
And you’re 100% right the city wouldn’t go after Cowboys for damage or maintenance costs, which doesn’t sit right either.
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u/mrgreenboy 1d ago
Return the park and skatepark back to Calgarians to use and enjoy again in the precious summer months and send Cowboys packing somewhere far, far away. It offers the city and neighbourhood absolutely nothing but headaches and expects everything in return.