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BRUCE BOWSER,

GARY DRUMMOND

and ANTHONY LeBLANC

We have spent enough time in Halifax over the past two years to know that Maritimers appreciate straight talk. So that’s what we are going to give you about our proposal to build a community stadium in this region and which we can expand into a home for your Atlantic Schooners’ CFL team.

Schooners Sports and Entertainment (SSE) has worked closely with Halifax Regional Municipality staff on this project. The latter set the bar very high and, in the end, thanks to some hard bargaining on their part, they have secured the best stadium deal of any major city in North America.

Throughout this process, our philosophy has been to listen carefully to all stakeholders, especially the public. We have modified our proposal many times based upon your feedback, hoping to make the Atlantic Schooners a reality.

We strongly believe in this project and in the economic benefits for Halifax and the entire Atlantic region. It’s getting more difficult, however, to remain optimistic with all the rumours, inaccuracies and misinterpretations flying around about the stadium.

First, there’s the funding. While no construction project of this magnitude is without risk, we’ve created a model that gives HRM two ways to fully recoup its investment — an annual occupancy payment from SSE, and a tax increment financing district or “TIF” that is backstopped by a ticket surcharge on stadium events, should development in the TIF district be delayed or never occur.

HRM alone will decide which commercial properties are part of the TIF and any rebate to SSE will be capped at $1 million. Most importantly, unlike the Nova Centre, HRM would not be on the hook if property tax revenues are lower than expected.

With our proposed stadium, the TIF would be financial gravy for the city. HRM’s annual cost for this project is $2 million a year. That would be more than covered by the $10 ticket surcharge and an annual payment of $1 million from SSE.

On average, a CFL team in Canada sells 240,000 tickets a year. It would take less than half that for HRM to break even. Additionally, our latest proposal also includes HRM sharing in upside ticket surcharge profits. Based upon the CFL average, this would be between $250,000 and $500,000 in direct profit to HRM annually.

SSE will take on all costs required to expand the community stadium to host a CFL team and other major events, such as the potential of an NHL Heritage Classic game, of which we have expressed our interest directly to the NHL. SSE will also assume all the risks, costs and losses associated with operating the community stadium. No public monies will be used to cover this outlay, estimated to be over $3 million per year.

A lot has been made recently about SSE owning a stadium that taxpayers helped finance. To be clear, it was never our desire to own the building. This was a condition that was stipulated by HRM and accepted by us.

We are certainly open to HRM or another entity other than ourselves owning the stadium and entering into a long-term lease with the Schooners. Under this arrangement, we would still be willing to assume all the operational risks associated with the facility.

So these are the ways we’ve tried to reduce the financial risk for residents of HRM. What are the economic benefits?

Deloitte did an economic impact analysis in May of 2018. They estimated that stadium construction would add $137 million and roughly 1,500 jobs to the Halifax economy. Once everything was operational, HRM would see almost $100 million annually and realize over 1,400 jobs.

The impact would not only come from Schooners home games, but from hosting events like a Grey Cup, international and national sporting tournaments, large stadium concerts along with smaller amphitheatre-style concerts, and the previously mentioned potential of an NHL and other outdoor hockey events. For reference, the 2018 Grey Cup hosted in Edmonton had an economic impact of more than $81 million.

A first-class stadium will also benefit community youth organizations, schools and provincial sports organizations.

We are committed to providing affordable access to Nova Scotia’s athletes, so they can reach their full potential. SSE would also set up a charitable foundation to deliver programs and assistance to HRM and the surrounding area. As well, hundreds of home Schooners game tickets would be made available free of charge to a variety of groups, so that cost isn’t a barrier to enjoying a professional sporting event.

Schooners Sports and Entertainment is firmly committed to this municipality, this province and Atlantic Canada. Halifax is the only major city in North America without this type of infrastructure.

We believe the time has come. We believe that this is a good deal for HRM. It’s now up to us to work with HRM staff, the mayor and council to take it into the end zone.

Bruce Bowser, Gary Drummond and Anthony LeBlanc are the three principal proponents of the bid for a CFL team and stadium in Halifax.