Honest wrote:I am impressed (?) that they shut downtown Edmonton for Hockey Games.
Is the game and the revenue (with no/limited crowds) worth shutting down the guts of the city?
Someone thinks it is I guess
Honest
Well, this is where it gets weird. Lot of people haven't figured out that no, we don't get to go to the arena to watch the games, you'll have to watch them on TV like everyone else. And cordoning off streets wasn't part of the pitch either, so I suspect they're going to bleed goodwill once it becomes official just how much we're giving up for this.
On the other hand, the original pitch was relatively "safe" - the arena is new and self-contained, with a pedway connecting to the arena owner's shiny new (and empty) hotel tower. So the theory was you can put all the staff in the hotel, they can walk over the pedway to/from the arena, and the "bubble" is literally those two buildings.
And then they added the community rink for "practice ice" (which I think is also the newest/nicest one in town, but is also the furthest), and we haven't heard if they're enforcing bussing or how everyone is getting across town without contaminating everything. And now it looks like the bubble is getting bigger for amenities...
We haven't heard anything about spouses/families beyond the CMO saying that if you're in the bubble you're *in*. So hopefully family decides to stay put, because our arena ain't *that* interesting, y'know?
nobthehobbit wrote:
Yeah, the exceptions being made for professional sports are incredibly foolish. I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons Vancouver isn't a hub city for the NHL is because the province wouldn't compromise on making the players follow the same rules as everyone else. And a good thing, too.
Bending over backwards for professional sports just puts public health at risk for little gain, except for the votes of sports fans.
Agreed - I'm not a hockey fan (and definitely not an Oilers fan!), but I was OK with the original plan when they were going to fill up a couple empty buildings and stick to themselves. But like most Things Hockey, the deal gets worse all the time.
But I can steal the premier's pitch video on why everyone should come to Edmonton!
https://twitter.com/jkenney/status/1275133805880197120