By Richard Bloom
The Ottawa Senators are one step closer to leaving town and quite frankly, I’m not surprised.
Senators owner Rod Bryden says he is serious about moving the National Hockey League team and to show he’s not bluffing Bryden has set a deadline for his demands.
There is a lot of confusion as to the exact reason for his decision but the bottom line is money.
Bryden says he’s being taxed unfairly and that he can no longer afford to keep his team in Canada. He’s asking for tax fairness, not tax exemptions.
But what’s the difference when the end result will have the taxpayer shouldering the costs of a multi-million dollar hockey organization?
I’m also left asking if Bryden knew what he was getting into when he got involved in the team?
Of course he did.
Canada is a capitalist, open-market economy and if he can’t afford to do business here, then he should revamp his operations or close shop.
It seems that simple but it isn’t.
If Bryden wants to make more money he could raise ticket prices, slash salaries and get rid of the big-name stars with their multi-million dollar contracts. While revenue might be up for a while, the result would be a low-grade team and an empty arena which would also cause the team’s demise.
The Senators currently have one of the lowest payrolls in the NHL. They are a winning team with a huge amount of potential, they draw sell-out crowds on a regular basis — yet the team continues to lose millions of dollars.
That’s why Bryden says he wants to leave.
And that’s why a grassroots campaign to lobby the government won’t work. Municipal governments by law can’t make tax exemptions for corporations and the federal government refuses to consider revamping its tax policies and rightly so.
The Ottawa sports community and hockey fans across Canada will be crushed if the team leaves and hundreds will lose work — but life goes on.
There will be other events in the Corel Centre. There will be other teams for the fans to throw themselves behind.
What’s frustrating is that Bryden knows he can make money with the team, he’s just not making enough here in Ottawa. He says he loves the city, he wants to keep the team here but it just doesn’t make fiscal sense.
That’s why I say, sayonara Senators, it’s been a slice.