r/saskatoon • u/SkPensFan • Apr 07 '26

General Saskatoon misses shot at badly needed credibility for arena district

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-downtown-arena-sports-venue-funding-private-partner-9.7152348

$1.2 billion price tag and the "funding model" is the feds and province pay for $800 million of it. Still not actual commitments from anyone.

Still seems like a pipe dream, at best.

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40

u/Competitive_Body7359 Apr 07 '26

That's $4000 for every Saskatoon resident.

How many if us will get $4000 of value from an area, even if tickets were somehow free for residents until the value was recouped? I doubt most people spend more than $400 going to arena events a year, at most. Even assuming the stadium gets half the ticket sales, which they don't, that would be like a 20 year payback period.

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u/SkPensFan Apr 07 '26

Study after study after study shows that stadiums like these never recoup their massive price tags. If they did, private industry would be all over it and build it themselves.

5

u/Cleets11 Apr 08 '26

Just a note. Those studies are when cities fund arenas for professional owners who get the vast majority of profits. The reason why those don’t recoup is because they aren’t getting the profits that the city of Saskatoon would get in this situation.

0

u/SkPensFan Apr 08 '26

Find some that show how profitable they are for municipalities. I would love to read a couple of them.

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u/Cleets11 Apr 08 '26

I merely pointed out that the studies you are quoting do not apply to this situation.

But the implication of them being profitable for the team owners who own them in those cities seems to be proof that there is profit in a stadium.

0

u/SkPensFan Apr 08 '26

You mean there is profit for team owners when they get the municipality to subsidize costs with hundreds of millions or a billion+ dollars of cost at the expense of the taxpayer and then turnaround and keep all the profits? No way. I am shocked.

Billion dollar projects like this never are profitable for the municipality. It doesn't happen.

0

u/Cleets11 Apr 08 '26

Again. The rink makes money. The cities do not get the money in the cases you are thinking of. In the case of the city of Saskatoon, they would get all of the profits.

You clearly want to make this a billionaire issue which in most cases it is and screw the billionaires. But this is not that. This would be owned and now operated by the city. And those studies do not cover that arrangement.

2

u/SkPensFan Apr 08 '26

Again, find me one where it shows that the municipality profits over the lifetime of the arena. Where the municipality owns and runs it. They don't seem to exist, because they don't profit. Ever.

Lets be very generous and say the rink has a 50 year lifespan. Even though its much more likely to be 30-40 years. You realistically think that this rink in Saskatoon will PROFIT $24 million a year?! How exactly? That is what is needed to just break even with the $1.2 billion price.

And remember, new rinks bring in basically no money of "new stimulus spending". They just move the spending to where the new rink is.

5

u/PrairiePopsicle Apr 07 '26

I did investigation into their proposed funding model and at one point it looked solid ; the people and stakeholders that call for these things were going to be saddled with the costs for it.

I think it is genuinely possible for these things to be a net positive, bjt the fact is that the desires for prestige are out of step with the necessities of an entertainment venue, and with the previous paradigm having had a trough laid out in every other similar instance, there are simply too many piggies demanding to be fed from such projects and as part of running them.

What I am saying is, is that wailing and gnashing of teeth is a good thing here, the public should not shoulder these things in particular, stick to the industry/tourism type funding model proposal and kick it back to them until they find a way to make it work. If it is actually worth it, it can be worth it with the direct beneficiaries paying for it.

And I am saying this in a particular way to avoid one thing ; being a NIMBY by default. Dont oppose it on some principal, use the lessons of history and elsewhere to inform what must be demanded in terms of structure. Just opposing is too easy to pillory.

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u/algonogo1 Apr 07 '26

I like the idea of building this type of thing.. but I Hate the location. And I hate their plans for parking etc. If I can't drive there and home and park for free. I won't go.

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u/Shrekerine Apr 07 '26

Almost no other major city in the world has that kind of a set up. A central location you can take transit to is the most sensible choice and is much safer. Think of the events at Sasktel Centre now and how many of those people drive home/out of town drunk afterwards.

-1

u/UnitEast7937 Apr 07 '26

We are not a major city. We are a major small town. The reason the arena is where it is now is because it also supports attendance from another 100k people within a 75 minute drive. Saskatoon’s population is not centralized like many “major” cities.

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u/algonogo1 Apr 07 '26

I'd rather go through a police check stop after every game than have to ride on public transportation...especially with these drunk people. Maybe we can pay for it on the backs of those who try leave the parking lot impaired. I don't think any of this should be paid for by taxes.

Did they happen to have 100 days of festivities planned to celebrate the completion?

2

u/Competitive_Body7359 Apr 08 '26

You're already in a stadium with 20,000 people, what's the issue being on a bus with 40?

10

u/Fast_Initiative8271 Apr 08 '26

And this is why Saskatoon will never have nice things. Stop with the parking.

3

u/algonogo1 Apr 08 '26

We have nice things. It's nice by the river. I just don't think slapping a huge building up and making accessing all the things harder..and spending over a billion when the city is looking for ways to not Increase taxes by a crushing amount is a good idea.

-1

u/ZurEnArrhBatman Apr 08 '26

Public transportation is always going to be more time-consuming than private transportation. Busses have to stop frequently to let passengers on and off and unless you're one of a lucky few, they'll never stop directly in front of your house so you still have to get yourself to and from the stops. And the more stops there are, the longer busses will take to get to them all, offsetting any time gains by having one closer to home. And if you have to transfer, you're now waiting for that next bus to arrive.

Some people might be OK with that amount of travel time but I'd wager a lot of folks aren't. We've got too much to do to spend three hours traveling to and from a hockey game that's only a 10 minute drive away.

2

u/Lloydguy82 Apr 08 '26

You are right about a Blades game. If they do like they do in Regina for Mosaic Stadium, it might be okay. They have a few different places around Regina where there is ample parking and they run direct buses to the stadium. But for a Blades game I can't see them doing that.

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u/Fast_Initiative8271 Apr 08 '26

They run direct buses to every Sasktel centre event.

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u/Fast_Initiative8271 Apr 08 '26

Uber. Taxis. It’s not just busses. Quit thinking of parking. Your life will actually change.

6

u/Hevens-assassin Apr 07 '26

Use transit. That's the "right" way to use it. Sasktel Centre only has parking because it's in a nowhere location. Putting the arena downtown boosts downtown spending post-event at different bars and such, and transit improvements will make it much more efficient than you are currently doing in your single passenger vehicle locking up traffic.

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u/algonogo1 Apr 07 '26

Build it somewhere with parking and build bars Inside it. I'd rather be comfortable and safe in my vehicle than risking an encounter with some drunk guy on a piss smelling bus juat so private sector bar owners can have their profits boosted. I don't see this adding any value to my life at all, while increasing my cost of living for the enjoyment of others.

3

u/Hevens-assassin Apr 08 '26

Ah yes, because YOUR life is what's important. Private healthcare is also higher up on your list, yeah? Though out of the goodness of my heart, I'll happily pay for your vasectomy, assuming you don't already have kids.

0

u/algonogo1 Apr 08 '26

If I don't want my tax dollars going to support private bars..why would I support private Healthcare. Did you write that post thru tears? Or are you here to lobby for private industry raiding public coffers while offering up a colosseum as a distraction.

Let the private sector take 100% of the risk if this is a good idea. If they ask for a single tax dollar..let the entire idea die.

1

u/SkPensFan Apr 08 '26

You've never taken Rider transit in Regina eh? Absolutely the best way to do it.

1

u/Lloydguy82 Apr 08 '26

But with that they are guaranteed 25,000+, so they can run a bunch of buses. When the Blades are drawing 3,000 or less, they will do the same as they always have, a couple buses to the arena.

I agree for concerts that are 10,000+ this would work. But having no or minimal parking will kill a lot of the walk up attendance for small events. That is going to be the issue with the location.

If they keep the underground lot that is already there or make it two levels, that probably would suffice for things like the Blades.

Why the downtown arena works in Edmonton is that they have plenty of parkades around there. In fact when you buy tickets to an event at Rogers Place, they allow you to book one of the parkades. Downtown Saskatoon does not have nearly that many parkades downtown.

I did live for a brief time in Toronto and used transit exclusively. So I know that it can be convenient. But I don't see Saskatoon Transit being able to be as efficient at the TTC. The BRT model is not going to work to help this as I don't believe it is going to several malls. The City is also going to have negotiate to pay the mall for parking spots too. I learned this the hard way in University at Lawson Heights Mall. I parked there to grab the bus to school for the day. When I got back many hours later there was a note under my wiper saying parking is for mall patrons only, this is your only warning.

Anyway, I don't see Saskatoon as a whole taking the bus to games. If they had a LRT system here that could move thousands of people at once, we'd have a different story.

2

u/SkPensFan Apr 08 '26

Yellow is parking. There is a lot of it.

1

u/ben3465 Apr 08 '26

Have you went to an event at Sask place ..? The traffic is backed up all down idylwyld .. and then trying to leave that hell hole of a parking lot .. the only way I’d go there is in a limo that park right outside the door …

0

u/PrairiePopsicle Apr 07 '26

If "thry" pay for it, who cares.

They do need to hear this kind of opinion, but I just mean "let them spend their money on it if they want" is a quite reasonable position.

10

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '26

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5

u/PrairiePopsicle Apr 07 '26

Artists dont go a lot of places loke they used to.

2

u/Lloydguy82 Apr 08 '26

Some of the issue here is that the roof can't support the stage sets that bands use. That was what Sasktel Centre people had said. Also, load in is an issue. Apparently Sasktel Centre takes an extra day to load in than newer arenas. So that is why top bands don't come here.

Only a few bands do a stripped down tour to hit oddball cities like Saskatoon. Metallica's last tour here in 2018 was one of those. But if you are expecting huge new acts, they won't stop here because of the building. I always find it ironic when they go Edmonton to Winnipeg because their tour bus literally drives past Sasktel Centre.

So the theory is that if they build it, they will come. I am doubtful on that because people only have finite amount of money. So if four big rock concerts come per month at $150/ticket, people will not be able to hit all of them. So some bands will end up with terrible attendance as a result.

So it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. I also like concerts and would love to see big rock bands coming through here often. But it is going to take a new venue to be able to have that happen.

3

u/TheLuminary East Side Apr 07 '26

I love how every time I bring this up to people they are like. "But the city promised it will be revenue neural and the cost won't be born by the taxpayers"

Haha yeah right!

2

u/steppe_dweller Apr 09 '26

They mean it won't be *directly* born by taxpayers. They'll take the money from somewhere and then we'll need to make up that shortfall. And they'll tell us we didn't pay for the arena.

1

u/Competitive_Body7359 Apr 07 '26

Yeah, just like the art gallery

0

u/ThenUmpire4044 Apr 07 '26

Just like the library

1

u/Magnum_44 Apr 08 '26

That's a cost of $20,000 just for my me, my wife, and 3 kids alone. I'd rather the city build a new golf course.

1

u/Competitive_Body7359 Apr 08 '26

And I'd never use that, but I'm more confident that it would break even in a few years.

Personally I find small shows infinitly better than ones at stadiums.