Call it a clash between Canada’s pastime and its fastest growing sport.

London politicos will be asked Tuesday to give the city’s only indoor soccer complex one-tenth what city hall gives hockey arenas every year.

The non-profit group that runs the BMO Centre at no cost to taxpayers, the London Optimists, wants one-time help of about $400,000 to expand their facility to six fields from four, with the Optimists picking up the rest of the $7.5-million tab for a facility now jam-packed with 3,000 youth and 1,800 adults.

The soccer ask is a small fraction of the $3.8 million the city pays to subsidize hockey, according to Free Press calculations using figures provided by city hall’s finance department.

Though one city councillor cautions against comparing what the city spends on facilities it owns and those it does not, the Optimists’ pitch appeals to some councillors who note the service club — and not city taxpayers — takes on the entire costs of running the facility on Rectory Street.

“They take a lot of costs out of city hands,” said Coun. Jared Zaifman, who will chair the council community and protective services committee that will hear the request.

“Any time we have a non-profit filling in a need for taxpayers, it’s a good thing,” said Coun. Virginia Ridley, who normally chairs the committee but will be away.

The city spends $10.6 million a year on indoor hockey arenas from which it gets $6.4 million in user fees and other revenue, according to the city’s finance department.

That leaves city taxpayers paying $4.2 million for arenas whose usage is about 90 per cent hockey — a tab for hockey of about $3.8 million.

The annual subsidy is in addition to the considerable cost of building and expanding arenas in the first place. In 2003, for example, the city spent $13.2 million to add pads and improve Stronach and Nichols arenas, and a few years earlier, gave $7 million and lent $11 million so Western Fair could build a four-pad facility.

The Optimists need a commitment soon to expand BMO Centre in time for the next winter season — it will take about six months to build an adjoining building with two fields. The goal is to start construction in March, said Optimists leader Tom Partalas.

The Optimists have asked for a grant of $800,000, of which a bit more than half would go right back to city hall to pay a development charge.

Unlike city-owned arenas, the Optimists pay taxes for the facility, about $60,000 a year, an amount they expect will grow to $90,000 with the addition of two more fields.

“This could be seen as a good investment,” Zaifman said. “The Optimists have been doing a great job.”

Partalas is optimistic he’ll secure help now that was rejected 13-2 a year ago by a newly elected council. “I’m very hopeful,” he said.

More than 17,000 Londoners play outdoor soccer, making it the city’s most popular participation sport. “It is by far,” Partalas said.

The Optimists run the BMO with a small staff aided by volunteers at a fraction of what it would cost the city, he said.

But not all of council is onside yet.

Coun. Jesse Helmer says he’ll reserve judgment until the issue comes to council, but he voted against a nearly identical proposal a year ago and so far sees little that has changed.

“So far, the difference is they want $50,000 more (than the $750,000 requested last year),” Helmer said.

Asked to compare what the city pays for hockey and soccer and the participation rates for each, Helmer said there are differences between facilities run and owned by the city and those that are not.

“It’s not an apples to apples comparison,” he said.

If the Optimists can pay so much of the tab, why can’t they pay for the rest, he asked. “Why would we need to fund it at all?”

The Optimists also run an inflatable dome with two fields that show their age in an industrial area of east London on land they swapped with the city to build BMO Centre near the Western Fair District. Though the city extended a lease for a nominal fee to keep the dome this winter, city officials say they could sell the land for about $572,000.

Money to help BMO Centre could come from an operating surplus that was $4.7 million in September, staff said in a report, but the request would have to be considered with others.

BMO Centre was finished in 2011 for $14 million, with $6.4 million from the Optimists, $4.1 million from the city and the rest from upper governments and the Bank of Montreal.

jonathan.sher@sunmedia.ca

Twitter.com/JSHERatLFPress