Tactics and strategy are related but different things; the Calgary Flames appear to be undermining the latter by over-playing the former in their negotiations for a new taxpayer-funded arena.
Their miscalculations should ultimately constitute good news for the City of Calgary and its ratepayers.
Here's what we know so far about the $555-million proposal. The city is offering $30-million in free land, free demolition of the existing Saddledome, and basically a free loan – in the form of a $130-million repayable contribution – plus broad control of revenues; there's also new infrastructure for the surrounding area.
Yes, gullible politicians in U.S. cities regularly offer even more generous packages to pro sports franchises. But smart, responsible stewards of the public purse here have nothing to gain from imitating fools.
And yet Mayor Naheed Nenshi is being slammed by the Flames for presenting what is, by any accounting, a sweet election-year offer. It's way too generous. Taxpayers don't need to subsidize billionaire owners and millionaire employees.
But in the Flames telling, it's nowhere near enough. Flames president Ken King claims the club will ultimately end up footing "120 per cent" of the bill. That's highly debatable.
The city offers the sky; the team wants them to throw in the stars and the oceans and the mountains, too.
The Flames don't wish to pay any rent or property tax. They want free transit for fans on game night and not to pay for a police presence. In addition, they would very much enjoy having what sounds suspiciously like a veto over the eventual development of the area around the new barn.
Here's a foolproof way to control a project: Pay for it. That's not how professional sports teams tend to do business, of course.
Mostly they get their way, as evidenced by ill-advised recent decisions to publicly fund new arenas in Edmonton and Quebec City. Mr. King insists "this is no money grab" but the numbers show that's a hollow denial.
He said the team will release the details of its own arena proposal next week. It will doubtless involve an even larger infusion of public money. Mr. Nenshi and the council should ignore it.