Feb

4

Are the Blue Jackets Worth Saving?

Posted on February 4, 2010 at 7:37 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under Local, Sports | Print This Post | Email This Post |  


A new organization called Forward Together thinks so. Today The Other Paper has an article about this new organization who will work to ensure the Blue Jackets stay in Columbus. You can sign a petition at their web site.

This is my case for why the Columbus Blue Jackets are worth saving.

Here’s what might happen if the CBJ do leave.

“It’s easy to figure out what happens to the Arena District if the Blue Jackets leave—just go back to the year of the lockout,” said team president Mike Priest. “I think you’ll find the answer to how important (the team) is as an anchor tenant.”

Priest is referring to the 2004-05 season, when the NHL suspended games during the lockout. The city lost upwards of $700,000 in income tax from the team’s $34 million payroll, while the impact on the Arena District from the loss of hockey traffic was even greater.

The public needs to be educated on the worth of having the Blue Jackets in the Arena District. This from Mike Rose, one of the co-chairs of Forward Together.

“We’re not seeing retraction, we’re seeing growth,” said Rose…

Here are the figures.

Using 2006 data, researchers at the John Glenn School of Public Policy at The Ohio State University identified more than $630 million in investments in the Arena District. As a result of these investments, the Arena District is home to more than 170 businesses that employ more than 5,500 people and generate sales of $1.6 billion annually. Conservative estimates identify $30 million generated in state and local taxes annually.

But the Blue Jackets have a terrible lease agreement and are losing 12 million a year.

In November of 2009, Stephen A. Buser, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor of Finance at The Ohio State University released a research study that said the following regarding the Blue Jackets lease.

a) The Blue Jackets are required to make annual payments of approximately $5 million to use the Arena. Other NHL teams typically pay much less, or nothing at all.

b) The Blue Jackets are responsible for managing the Arena on a year round basis. As a result, the Blue Jackets are required to absorb arena operating losses on the order of $4 or $5 million per year. Other NHL teams typically either have no such responsibility, or the amount of the loss is shared with other parties.

c) The Blue Jackets have either limited access, or no access, to certain types of revenue sources that other NHL teams typically enjoy. Examples identified by MZSports that are especially significant in the case of the Blue Jackets include lack of access to payments for naming rights to the Arena, lack of access to parking revenues for hockey games and/or non hockey events, and only limited access to revenues from the sale of founder suites and personal seat licenses in the Arena.

I think this is solid evidence that the Blue Jackets have been an economic plus and are worth saving. In his report Dr. Buser gave 20 suggestions to help the CBJ. So far, there has not been much talk about implementing any of them. Hopefully, Forward Together can change that.

Of course the biggest thing that has to happen is the Blue Jackets need to start winning.

Sources:
Carrying the flag
Report on the Blue Jackets

Similar Posts (Sometimes):

  • Share/Bookmark

Comments

Leave a Reply | Basic HTML Allowed | Live Preview Below