Yahoo Sports 
Belleville Bulls' arena issue becomes a political football
One could have a lot of fun putting a bet on which major junior team's arena quandary is resolved first, the Gatineau Olympiques' or Belleville Bulls'.
The former might be solved within a couple of election cycles, or around the year 2020. The dilemma over what should be done to keep the Bulls in the Ontario Hockey League's second-smallest market is nothing new. The feeling is pretty much universal that Yardmen Arena is not an "appropriate facility" for the OHL and doesn't offer much to draw the casual-fan dollar. Bulls owner Gord Simmonds is on record that the team needs to average 3,000 fans, nearly 50 per cent more than it does currently, to avoid having the community "be at great risk of losing its OHL franchise." All of this is coming to a head in the last week before a mayoralty election in the eastern Ontario city, with one contender talking about shifting to a community-owned model.
It is sounding like one of those YouTube videos that repeats the same audio, since this has been going on for years.
From Colin MacKay:
Obviously, the owner is tired of waiting and disappointed that, for eight years, nothing has been accomplished to improve the Bulls’s venue. Add that to the fact the OHL may be putting on some pressure and the time has come to do something, before the ability to make independent decisions is gone. Questions do remain about the feasibility of a new venue. Can the region of 190,000 people support a new multi-purpose facility? What are the consequences of doing nothing? Is Belleville willing to look at itself as an ageing, dying town for the retired by doing nothing?
Nobody has ever said to convince the Quinte community building a new multi-purpose facility would be easy.
In fact, the naysayers far outweigh those willing to get involved – at the moment. A project of this nature needs the positive support of citizens, businesses and the politicians at all levels of government. Do we accept the Belleville area is too small and let visitors continue to go to [neighbouring] Oshawa or Kingston to view events that could come here? With their arenas downtown they have seen a fair amount of economic growth with new businesses and tourists coming to town. To grow requires long-term thinking.(Belleville Intelligencer, Oct. 21)
As far as what has been stated publicly, Simmonds has never said a thing about selling the team or pulling up stakes for another city. Of course, it's not as if there's an obvious vacancy where the OHL would be properly supported now that North Bay is back in the league. Everything else, whether it's another small city such as Chatham or Cornwall or a big city such as Buffalo, sounds a little pipe-dreamy.
The Bulls are on a short lease at the Yardmen, and given the challengings of containing costs in major junior hockey, it is tough to doubt Simmonds when he says the community's next council will have to move on the file some time between Monday and October 2018. (Mayors and city councillors serve four-year terms in Ontario.)
The notion of having the Bulls become a city asset was pitched by candidate Taso Christopher, who also envisions the Bulls having "a long-term lease .. It’s not like they came here from somewhere: they were born here and they’re going to stay here." A municipality owning an junior hockey team would go against the current polity, where generally the public believes the private sector can always do better. The community-owned model certainly isn't working out very well over the last half-decade for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who have been a consistent straggler in the Western Hockey League. However, if done properly, it means the Bulls become a revenue tool for the city, rather than having their income become privately held wealth. That goes back to the notion of why build a new arena in the first one; who stands to benefit?
At the same time, one of Christopher's foes is contending it's an affront to Simmonds to take that tack. After all, Simmonds will wants to own and operate a team in Belleville. In any event, it would be a shame if nothing gets worked out for the iconic franchise with those radiantly retina-searing gold jerseys.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
