💰Cllr. Sharp Sharing Misleading Info on Arena Agreement

💸 Arena deal even worse for taxpayers than advertised

Calgary’s new arena deal is even worse for taxpayers (but much better for the billionaire Flames owners) than currently advertised by the City of Calgary and Event Centre Committee Chair Sonya Sharp. Just when it seemed like you couldn’t have imagined a worse deal than the one announced in April 2023, that socialized the costs on the backs of taxpayers and privatized the profits for the Swiss-based billionaire Flames owners, it turns out Sonya Sharp and Danielle Smith found a way.

Sonya Sharp, chair of the Event Centre Committee and mayoral candidate for the Billionaires First municipal political party, enjoys a laugh at the expense of Calgary taxpayers at the April 2023 announcement of the new arena deal. (Image source: Calgary Herald)

🤑 Ticket tax revenues paid by Calgarians will be counted towards billionaire Flames owners’ “contributions”

According to a recent CBC report, the City’s agreement with the billionaire Flames owners allows them to count revenue collected from the new 9.5% ticket tax paid by Calgarians attending events towards their own contributions. This means that while the City is telling Calgarians that the Flames owners will contribute $356-million (38%) towards the arena over the course of the 35-year agreement, they will actually only be contributing as little as $170-million (18%).

Revised breakdown of the financial contributions to the $926-million new arena cost over the 35-year agreement period showing the billionaire Flames owners contributing only 18% while taxpayers contribute a total of over 82% between provincial funding, municipal funding and ticket taxes. (Image source: Calgary Herald)

🛩️ Billionaire Flames owners will pocket 100% of the estimated >$100M per year in arena revenues

It might be hard for most Calgarians to wrap their heads around signing a business deal with someone where they contributed 82% of the total costs and received 0% of the revenue, but that’s what Sonya Sharp did as chair of the Event Centre Committee. Under the terms of the agreement, the billionaire Flames owners will collect 100% of arena operating revenues, estimated to be upwards of $100M annually based on financial information from a 2024 Forbes report.

The "facility and rental fees" paid by the Flames owners to the City over 35 years merely serve to repay what is in effect a $130M taxpayer-shouldered loan to the billionaire Flames owners for the upfront cost of the arena.

Taxpayers will receive 0% of the revenues from the new arena despite contributing 97% of the upfront costs and 81% of the total cost over the 35-year agreement. Billionaires First municipal political party member and city councillor Dan McLean is all smiles with Danielle Smith at April 2023 the announcement of the arena deal.

Markup with corrections of misleading graph from the City of Calgary's Event Centre - Financial Contributions website falsely showing inflated contributions from the billionaire Flames owners (CSEC). (Image Source - City of Calgary)

When asked by CBC News asked about the City misleading Calgarians that the Flames owners would be paying $186-million in facility fee payments when in fact the funds could be covered by Calgarians through the 9.5% ticket tax, Event Centre Committee Chair Sonya Sharp took zero responsibility:

"The narrative could have been explained a little bit better. The communication on it could have been better"

-Sonya Sharp (Event Centre Committee Chair)

⭐️ TAKE ACTION: City must be transparent and update their misleading event centre website

1) Email Event Centre Committee Chair Sonya Sharp and all of Calgary city council

Ask Event Centre Chair and Billionaires First mayoral candidate Sonya Sharp to stop misleading Calgarians with inaccurate information and update the City's website with the true costs of the arena deal showing how Calgarians will be contributing more funding to the arena through the 9.5% ticket tax than the billionaire Flames owners who will be collecting all of the estimated $4-billion in operating revenues over 35 years.

2) Spread the word

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