if put to a hamilton referendum (which we dont do here) a public vote to pay for upgrades to copps would pass by an overwhelming majority. would folks in timmins or windsor vote for upgrades to copps? who cares, hamiltonians dont get to vote on arena grants in those locations.
you seem to imply the arena would only be used for hockey and therefore hockey should pay for upgrades. rest assured, hockey will pay more than its fair share but its silly to suggest it should pay total reno costs. the arena needs upgrades, regardless of hockey.
and if folks want to call arena renovation costs a "subsidy" for the hockey team, then go for it. every franchise, gosh every business anywhere, is "subsidized" if you twist interpretation of public expenditures on public goods hard enough.
It probably won't matter given the power MLSE has with the board of governors. The board is unlikely to vote in favor of a Hamilton relocation or expansion team.
Kitchener/London would have a higher likelihood of receiving a team as those cities fall outside the parameters set by the NHL for the distance from other NHl team/s. Those cities are growing at faster rate than Hamilton and have access to the large population centres of Toronto, Misassauga, Burlington and Guelph...and Hamilton.
We will have to disagree about the subsidies. There would be more people than you think that would be against significant funding for the Hamilton arena. Some street repairs and beautification in the area immediately surrounding the arena? Or donation of some land for a public square/live event area. Sure, that would be a few million and I think the public would get behind that. But $150 - $300 million to subsidize what many think would be a top-5 revenue generating team? No, that's not happening.
Not only that, but it's not as if the Hamilton would be the sole stakeholder in this little venture. The province would be expected to contribute close to 50% of the costs should ownership have the gall to ask for a 100% public subsidy. Good luck attempting that in a province which has a crippling debt (worse than California) and is not even a year out from the most expensive Pan Am Games on record. No, a good chunk of the public funds would have to come from the province if this became a public endeavour and I don't see that happening. Not when you factor in the recent provincial expenditure on the new stadium as well. Politicians have memories like the rest of us.
Here is a list of the top-revenue earning teams in the NHL (not necessarily in order and their arena funding:
1. Toronto - Air Canada Centre - 100% privately financed
2. Montreal - Bell Centre - 100% privately financed
3. Vancouver - Rogers Arena - 100% privately financed
4. New York Rangers - renovated Madison Square Garden - 100% privately financed
5. Boston - TD Garden - 100% privately financed
6. Philadelphia - 100% or nearly 100% privately financed (32 million from the city and state for infrastructure - not sure if this is the arena itself)
7. Chicago - United Centre - 100% privately financed
8. Los Angeles - Staples Centre - 100% privately financed
9. Washington - Verizon Centre - 100% privately financed
There is no reason Hamilton's prospective owners could not fund the entire venture themselves. All the other top-revenue teams have done so in the past so there is no excuse for what would be a sure money-maker.
This hypothetical ownership group would be getting a big break anyways. They have an 18,000 seat arena to work with. One with good bones that needs a $150 - $300 million upgrade as opposed to spending $500 million on a brand new arena. Pretty fortunate for them one would think.