July 22nd: While it remains a tentative deal, the Flames, the annual Calgary Stampede festival, and the city of Calgary have agreed to terms on a new “public sports and entertainment event center”, the team has announced. The estimated $550MM complex will be split evenly between the team and the city with additional support from the Stampede. It will also serve as the home to the WHL’s Hitmen and the Roughnecks box lacrosse team, and will serve to attract a variety of other concerts and shows. The new complex will be owned entirely by the city of Calgary and the Flames will bear all operating costs. However, the team will take what they can get when it comes to a much-needed new arena at only 50% of the construction costs. This agreement is subject to a week-long public comment period before it is again brought before city council for a final vote on July 29th.
July 19th: Though there is still a lot of work to be done, the Calgary Flames and the city of Calgary have reached a tentative deal for a new arena according to Meghan Potkins of Postmedia. The deal will be brought to city council on Monday.
The Flames have long been fighting for a new arena in Calgary as the Scotiabank Saddledome is now more than 35 years old making it one of the oldest rinks in the NHL. In September 2017 after a charged battle with mayor Naheed Nenshi, Flames president Ken King announced that the team was “no longer pursuing a new facility” complicating the future of the team. It was clear the team couldn’t continue to play indefinitely in the Saddledome, but it looked like any arena talks were dead for a long time.
In May 2018 the city voted to open the discussion again and now it seems as though they have taken another step in the right direction. More information will obviously come next week, but Potkins reports that the new arena is projected to cost between $550MM and $600MM. Getting a new arena is crucial to the Flames moving forward and staying in Calgary, something that the NHL is obviously supportive of.