re: #42 nines09

The Pens tanked to get Mario. You can dig around and see that proof. They couldn’t sell 4 seats 4 soft drinks and 4 hot dogs for $40 after Mario retired. They were going to move to Oklahoma City or Portland or Seattle.
Bettman couldn’t have a Northeast team crash and burn. Bad look. So in the lockout season the NHL made sure the Pens (who were tanking again) got the #1 which was Sydney Crosby. Then the state of Pennsylvania tax dollars went to fund the new arena in Pittsburgh.
In contrast, the Flyers new stadium replacing the Spectrum was totally paid for by the Flyers. Needy Pens Needy

To me, it was all business and fixed to save face. The NHL is a bush league with world class talent and a commissioner who exudes slime.
Just too damned convenient for me.
YMMV

Stadium deals in Pittsburgh have always had some shenanigans associated with them. One 3-county bond issue that included a sales tax increase to generate stadium money faced a referendum in 1997 and went down in flames. The ballot counting wasn’t even done when a “Plan B” appeared from nowhere and got steamrollered through so that the citizenry ate a big chunk of the costs.*

The area got two decent stadiums out of it (PNC Park and Heinz Field) plus further development as the Convention Center got some renovations and the University of Pittsburgh then tore down their stadium built in the 1930s and developed the prime piece of Pittsburgh real estate it had previously occupied.

I personally think that if it had been necessary the Rooney family would have worked out a financing deal for a stadium, but were also business savvy enough to take public money if it was offered to them. The ownership of the Pirates pretty much had to be bailed out in this regard.