The Mills report, the Manley subsidy proposals, and the business of major-league sport

Canadian Public Administration

Volumn 43, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 127-156

  Whitson, David ^a   Harvey, Jean ^a   Lavoie, Marc ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA   (Austria)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0039251888     PISSN: 00084840     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1754-7121.2000.tb01564.x     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. This was a sub-committee of the standing committee on Canadian heritage, chaired by Liberal MP Clifford Lincoln (Lachine - Lac-Saint-Louis).
2. Canada, Parliament, House of Commons, Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Sub-Committee on the Study of Sport in Canada, Sport in Canada: Everybody's Business. Report (Ottawa: Public Works and Government Services Canada, 1998), p. 25.
3. This series ran on Sunday mornings during the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs. See www.calgary.cbc.ca/icedreams.
4. Canada, Parliament, House of Commons, Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Sub-Committee on the Study of Sport in Canada, Sport in Canada, pp. 78-80.
5. Ibid., pp. 101-105.
6. See Jean Harvey, "La vision du rapport Mills s'appuie sous de fausses prémisses, " La Presse (Montreal) 8 December 1998, p. B3.
7. Graham Fraser, "Ottawa dismisses Mills report, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 29 April 1999, pp. S1, S2.
8. David Shoalts, "Optimism abounds in NHL aid talks, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 29 June 1999, pp. S1, S2.
9. As one highly placed NHL official told a Globe and Mail reporter not long ago, "Why should that money go to hospitals? It's not like anyone is betting on the patients." Stephen Brunt, "Give us a break: NHL, not taxpayers, only beneficiary of Bryden Relief, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 29 June 1999, p. S1.
10. Public Policy Forum, La ligue nationale de hockey au Canada (Ottawa: Public Policy Forum, 1999), pp. 2-3.
11. It is worth noting that although the Ontario government's "permission" to municipalities to offer relief on property taxes also made significant savings available, in principle, to the Toronto Maple Leafs (and the Raptors and the Blue Jays), Toronto mayor Mel Lastman indicated that Toronto could not afford to lose the tax revenues it receives from the Air Canada Centre and the SkyDome. Outside Ontario, the two Alberta teams already play in public owned arenas so property taxes are not an issue. Vancouver and Montreal, however, have consistently refused to make concessions on this front. On 1 December 1999, the Ottawa-Carleton regional municipality kept this promise by reducing the Corel Centre taxes by eighty-five per cent.
12. Mark MacKinnon, "Public outcry leads Manley to pull the plug on hockey aid, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 22 January 2000, pp. A1, A4.
13. See Jim Silver, Thin Ice: Money, Politics, and the Demise of an NHL Franchise (Halifax: Fernwood Books, 1996).
14. For a fuller discussion of these events, see Richard Gruneau and David Whitson, Hockey Night in Canada: Sport, Identities and Cultural Politics (Toronto: Garamond Press, 1993), pp. 97-101.
15. See Charles Euchner, Playing the Field: Why Sports Teams Move and Cities Fight to Keep Them (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992); Mark Rosentraub, Major League Losers: The Real Cost of Sport and Who's Paying For It (New York: HarperCollins, 1997).
16. See Charles Euchner, Playing the Field: Why Sports Teams Move and Cities Fight to Keep Them (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992); Mark Rosentraub, Major League Losers: The Real Cost of Sport and Who's Paying For It (New York: HarperCollins, 1997).
17. Canada, Parliament, House of Commons, Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Sub-Committee on the Study of Sport in Canada, Sport in Canada, pp. 95-8.
18. George Sage, "Stealing home: political, economic and media power and a publicly funded baseball stadium in Denver, " Journal of Sport and Social Issues 17, no. 2 (August 1993), pp. 110-24. See also James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Hard Ball: The Abuse of Power in Pro Team Sports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999).
19. George Sage, "Stealing home: political, economic and media power and a publicly funded baseball stadium in Denver, " Journal of Sport and Social Issues 17, no. 2 (August 1993), pp. 110-24. See also James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Hard Ball: The Abuse of Power in Pro Team Sports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999).
20. The CBC broadcasts of "Hockey Night in Canada" from Montreal and Toronto achieved a similar popularization of NHL in Canada. However, without the early presence of the NHL in the major metropolitan centres of the U.S., it is doubtful if hockey would have enjoyed the same status in American popular culture. See Gruneau and Whitson, Hockey Night in Canada, Chapter 4, and David Whitson and Richard Gruneau, "The (Real) Integrated Circus: Political Economy, Popular Culture and 'Major League' Sport, " in Wallace Clement, ed., Understanding Canada: Building on the NCTC Political Economy (Montreal and Kingston: McGillQueen's University Press, 1997), pp. 359-85.
21. The CBC broadcasts of "Hockey Night in Canada" from Montreal and Toronto achieved a similar popularization of NHL in Canada. However, without the early presence of the NHL in the major metropolitan centres of the U.S., it is doubtful if hockey would have enjoyed the same status in American popular culture. See Gruneau and Whitson, Hockey Night in Canada, Chapter 4, and David Whitson and Richard Gruneau, "The (Real) Integrated Circus: Political Economy, Popular Culture and 'Major League' Sport, " in Wallace Clement, ed., Understanding Canada: Building on the NCTC Political Economy (Montreal and Kingston: McGillQueen's University Press, 1997), pp. 359-85.
22. Stephen Brunt, "New NHL strategy: subsidy by stealth, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 27 March 1999), p. S3.
23. In 1988-89, the average salary was US$180, 000; in 1999-2000, this had risen to US$1, 350, 000. For more details, see Marc Lavoie, Avantage numérique, l'argent, et la Ligue Nationale de Hockey (Hull: Vents d'Ouest, 1997), pp. 186-90.
24. David Whitson, "Circuits of Promotion: Media, Marketing and the Globalization of Sport, " in Larry Wenner, ed., MediaSport (New York: Routledge, 1998), pp. 57-72. The concept of "circuits of promotion" is adapted from Andrew Wernick, Promotional Culture (London: Sage Publications, 1991).
25. David Whitson, "Circuits of Promotion: Media, Marketing and the Globalization of Sport, " in Larry Wenner, ed., MediaSport (New York: Routledge, 1998), pp. 57-72. The concept of "circuits of promotion" is adapted from Andrew Wernick, Promotional Culture (London: Sage Publications, 1991).
26. See Jeff Blair, "Senators extend ticket campaign another 10 days, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 12 February 2000, p. S2; John Cotter, "Flames embark on tough selling job, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 19 May 2000, p. S6.
27. See Jeff Blair, "Senators extend ticket campaign another 10 days, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 12 February 2000, p. S2; John Cotter, "Flames embark on tough selling job, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 19 May 2000, p. S6.
28. Ken Dryden, "Ownership, identity at heart of sports battle, " Montreal Gazette, 6 November 1994, p. C5. [Reprinted in Peter Donnelly, ed., Taking Sport Seriously: Social Issues in Canadian Sport (Toronto: Thompson, 1997), pp. 279-85.].
29. Ken Dryden, "Ownership, identity at heart of sports battle, " Montreal Gazette, 6 November 1994, p. C5. [Reprinted in Peter Donnelly, ed., Taking Sport Seriously: Social Issues in Canadian Sport (Toronto: Thompson, 1997), pp. 279-85.].
30. Ibid.
31. See Bruce Kidd, "Toronto's SkyDome: The World's Greatest Entertainment Centre, " in John Bale and Olof Moen, eds., The Stadium and the City (Leicester: University of Leicester Press, 1995), and Nick Auf der Mer, The Billion Dollar Game: Jean Drapeau and the 1976 Olympics (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1976).
32. See Bruce Kidd, "Toronto's SkyDome: The World's Greatest Entertainment Centre, " in John Bale and Olof Moen, eds., The Stadium and the City (Leicester: University of Leicester Press, 1995), and Nick Auf der Mer, The Billion Dollar Game: Jean Drapeau and the 1976 Olympics (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1976).
33. See David Whitson and D. Macintosh, "Becoming a 'world class' city: hallmark events and sports franchises in the growth strategies of western Canadian cities, " Sociology of Sport Journal 10, no. 3 (September 1993), pp. 221-40.
34. See Silver, Thin Ice, and Euchner, Playing the Field. See also William Houston and David Shoalts, "Canadian cities play on thin ice, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 4-7 January 1994.
35. See Silver, Thin Ice, and Euchner, Playing the Field. See also William Houston and David Shoalts, "Canadian cities play on thin ice, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 4-7 January 1994.
36. See Silver, Thin Ice, and Euchner, Playing the Field. See also William Houston and David Shoalts, "Canadian cities play on thin ice, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 4-7 January 1994.
37. Whitson and Gruneau, "The (Real) Integrated Circus, " in Clement, Understanding Canada. See also Marc Levine, "Tourism, Urban Re-development and the 'World-Class' City: The Cases of Baltimore and Montreal, " in Caroline Andrew, Pat Armstrong and André Lapierre, eds., World Class Cities: Can Canada Play? (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1999), pp. 421-50.
38. Whitson and Gruneau, "The (Real) Integrated Circus, " in Clement, Understanding Canada. See also Marc Levine, "Tourism, Urban Re-development and the 'World-Class' City: The Cases of Baltimore and Montreal, " in Caroline Andrew, Pat Armstrong and André Lapierre, eds., World Class Cities: Can Canada Play? (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1999), pp. 421-50.
39. Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, "Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Real Connection, " in Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, eds., Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1997), pp. 496-97.
40. Canada, Parliament, House of Commons, Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Sub-Committee on the Study of Sport in Canada, Sport in Canada, pp. 94-5.
41. Paul Kedrosky, "Taxpayers score in their own net!" National Post Online, 6 November 1999. Available at http://www.nationalpost.com/story.asp?f=991106/120248.html [9 November 1999].
42. Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, "The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 56-7. For other influential treatments of these issues, see Euchner, Playing the Field; James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992); Robert Baade, "Professional sports as catalysts for metropolitan economic development, " Journal of Urban Affairs 18, no. 1 (March 1996), pp. 1-17; Rosentraub, Major League Losers.
43. Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, "The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 56-7. For other influential treatments of these issues, see Euchner, Playing the Field; James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992); Robert Baade, "Professional sports as catalysts for metropolitan economic development, " Journal of Urban Affairs 18, no. 1 (March 1996), pp. 1-17; Rosentraub, Major League Losers.
44. Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, "The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 56-7. For other influential treatments of these issues, see Euchner, Playing the Field; James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992); Robert Baade, "Professional sports as catalysts for metropolitan economic development, " Journal of Urban Affairs 18, no. 1 (March 1996), pp. 1-17; Rosentraub, Major League Losers.
45. Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, "The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 56-7. For other influential treatments of these issues, see Euchner, Playing the Field; James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992); Robert Baade, "Professional sports as catalysts for metropolitan economic development, " Journal of Urban Affairs 18, no. 1 (March 1996), pp. 1-17; Rosentraub, Major League Losers.
46. Noll and Zimbalist, "Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, p. 57. The authors note that Stanford University collected $258 million in tuition in 1995-96.
47. Marc Lavoie, "Les subventions à la LNH: Le coeur et la raison, " Le Droit (Ottawa) 1 February 2000, p. 15. See also Robert Baade and Allen Sanderson, "The Employment Effect of Teams and Sports Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 92-118.
48. Marc Lavoie, "Les subventions à la LNH: Le coeur et la raison, " Le Droit (Ottawa) 1 February 2000, p. 15. See also Robert Baade and Allen Sanderson, "The Employment Effect of Teams and Sports Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 92-118.
49. See, for example, Jean Harvey, Marc Lavoie and Maurice Saint-Germain, "Le sport au Canada: poids, impact économique et rôle du gouvernement." Mémoire soumis au sous-comites sur l'étude du sport au Canada, 27 January 1998. Available at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSGF/sg03425f.html. See also Jean Harvey and Marc Lavoie, "Les subventions au.sport professionnel ou la socialisation du risque d'enterprise, " Themes canadiennes/Canadian Issues 21, no. 2 (Autumn 1999), pp. 10-11; Marc Lavoie, "Le équipes sportive professionnelles n'ont pas d'impact significatif: le cas des Expos, " Avante 6, no. 1 (2000), pp. 52-81.
50. See, for example, Jean Harvey, Marc Lavoie and Maurice Saint-Germain, "Le sport au Canada: poids, impact économique et rôle du gouvernement." Mémoire soumis au sous-comites sur l'étude du sport au Canada, 27 January 1998. Available at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSGF/sg03425f.html. See also Jean Harvey and Marc Lavoie, "Les subventions au.sport professionnel ou la socialisation du risque d'enterprise, " Themes canadiennes/Canadian Issues 21, no. 2 (Autumn 1999), pp. 10-11; Marc Lavoie, "Le équipes sportive professionnelles n'ont pas d'impact significatif: le cas des Expos, " Avante 6, no. 1 (2000), pp. 52-81.
51. See, for example, Jean Harvey, Marc Lavoie and Maurice Saint-Germain, "Le sport au Canada: poids, impact économique et rôle du gouvernement." Mémoire soumis au sous-comites sur l'étude du sport au Canada, 27 January 1998. Available at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSGF/sg03425f.html. See also Jean Harvey and Marc Lavoie, "Les subventions au.sport professionnel ou la socialisation du risque d'enterprise, " Themes canadiennes/Canadian Issues 21, no. 2 (Autumn 1999), pp. 10-11; Marc Lavoie, "Le équipes sportive professionnelles n'ont pas d'impact significatif: le cas des Expos, " Avante 6, no. 1 (2000), pp. 52-81.
52. Baade and Sanderson, "Employment Effect of Teams and Sports Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 99-102. See also Ian Hudson, "Bright lights, big city: do professional sports teams increase employment?" Journal of Urban Affairs 21, no. 4 (December 1999), pp. 397-407.
53. Baade and Sanderson, "Employment Effect of Teams and Sports Facilities, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 99-102. See also Ian Hudson, "Bright lights, big city: do professional sports teams increase employment?" Journal of Urban Affairs 21, no. 4 (December 1999), pp. 397-407.
54. Noll and Zimbalist, "The Economic Impact, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 68-70. See also Harvey and Lavoie, "Les équipes sportive professionnelles, " Avante.
55. Noll and Zimbalist, "The Economic Impact, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, pp. 68-70. See also Harvey and Lavoie, "Les équipes sportive professionnelles, " Avante.
56. Levine, "Tourism, Urban Re-development, " in Andrew, Armstrong and Lapierre, World Class Cities. For other discussions, see Maurice Roche, "Mega-events and urban policy, " Annals of Tourism Research 21, no. 1 (1994), pp. 1-19; Dennis Judd and Susan Fainstein, eds., Places to Play: The Remaking of Cities for Tourists (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999).
57. Levine, "Tourism, Urban Re-development, " in Andrew, Armstrong and Lapierre, World Class Cities. For other discussions, see Maurice Roche, "Mega-events and urban policy, " Annals of Tourism Research 21, no. 1 (1994), pp. 1-19; Dennis Judd and Susan Fainstein, eds., Places to Play: The Remaking of Cities for Tourists (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999).
58. Levine, "Tourism, Urban Re-development, " in Andrew, Armstrong and Lapierre, World Class Cities. For other discussions, see Maurice Roche, "Mega-events and urban policy, " Annals of Tourism Research 21, no. 1 (1994), pp. 1-19; Dennis Judd and Susan Fainstein, eds., Places to Play: The Remaking of Cities for Tourists (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999).
59. Levine goes on to note that, indeed, despite polls showing Quebec opinion to be solidly against contributing public funds towards construction of a new downtown baseball stadium, the Quebec government has now committed itself to grant up to $8 million per year "on the undocumented grounds that the Expos helped 'promote' Montreal as a tourist centre, " Ibid., p. 440.
60. Ibid., p. 439.
61. Ibid., p. 443.
62. Noll and Zimbalist, "The Economic Impact, " in Noll and Zimbalist, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, p. 73.
63. S. Tuck, "Cisco to create up to 2400 jobs in Kanata, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 18 February 2000, p. B3.
64. A survey done in Winnipeg in 1994, on behalf of a citizen coalition that opposed public funding for the Jets, indicated that only among men earning over $60, 000 per year was there clear majority support for spending tax dollars to keep the team in Winnipeg. See Silver, Thin Ice.
65. The CBC'S "Molson's Hockey Night in Canada" broadcasts in the winter of 2000 were averaging about 1.3 million viewers, while TSN's nationally aired Raptor games were drawing only 139, 000, with half of those viewers coming from the Greater Toronto. In Vancouver, Sportsnet's broadcasts of Canucks' games average 139, 000 viewers, while the Grizzlies draw only 43, 000 viewers. William Houston, "Hockey beats NBA-big, " The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 16 February 2000, p. S2.
66. Varda Burstyn, The Rites of Men: Manhood, Politics and the Culture of Sport (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999), p. 129. For an illustration, see "Hockey Night in Canada" (by Gwen Frank) on the cover of Gruneau and Whitson, Hockey Night in Canada.
67. Varda Burstyn, The Rites of Men: Manhood, Politics and the Culture of Sport (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999), p. 129. For an illustration, see "Hockey Night in Canada" (by Gwen Frank) on the cover of Gruneau and Whitson, Hockey Night in Canada.
68. Bruce Kidd, "The Men's Cultural Centre: Sports and the Dynamic of Women's Oppression/Men's Repression, " in M. Messner and D. Sabo, eds., Sports, Men and the Gender Order (Champaign, Ill.: Human Kinetics, 1990).
69. Praised by Ottawa-Carleton as the perfect solution to help the Senators, this idea was received coldly by the Ontario and Alberta provincial governments, who claimed to be in the business of cutting taxes, not raising new ones. See KPMG, Major League Sports. Visiting Players' Tax. Report (Toronto: KPMG, 2000). See also Isabelle Ducas, "Faire payer les joueurs américains, " Le Droit (Ottawa) 26 January 2000, p. 3.
70. Praised by Ottawa-Carleton as the perfect solution to help the Senators, this idea was received coldly by the Ontario and Alberta provincial governments, who claimed to be in the business of cutting taxes, not raising new ones. See KPMG, Major League Sports. Visiting Players' Tax. Report (Toronto: KPMG, 2000). See also Isabelle Ducas, "Faire payer les joueurs américains, " Le Droit (Ottawa) 26 January 2000, p. 3.
71. Mark Rosentraub, "Are public policies needed to level the playing field between cities and teams, " Journal of Urban Affairs 21, no. 4 (December 1999), pp. 377-95.