Flames CEO claims city's arena pitch would've had team paying '120 percent'

Calgary Flames president and CEO Ken King went on the defensive Friday after the city of Calgary revealed its arena plan that the club rejected earlier in the week.

"This is no money grab," King said. "If it was, we'd be long gone. There's a lot of places to make a lot of money in sports other than here."

King claimed the city's proposal - that his team declined - would have forced the Flames to fund "120 percent of the project."

The city proposed splitting the costs three ways - between itself, Flames ownership, and arena users by way of a ticket surcharge.

But King insisted Friday that the rejected proposal would have required the Flames to pay the city back for its part of the cost through property taxes and rent or lease fees, in addition to the ticket surcharge, the latter of which he argued would come right out of the club's revenue streams.

Calgary's arena squabble has dragged on for quite some time, but the Flames escalated matters Tuesday, declaring they were walking away from the negotiating table for the time being.

The arena dispute is expected to be the biggest issue in the city's upcoming municipal election on Oct. 16.

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