BANFF – TSN missed the broom.
At a meeting Monday (Sept. 10), Banff council unanimously turned down The Sports Network’s request to waive a $32,500 annual fee for use of the Fenlands recreation centre to host the Curling Skins Game in February 2019-21.
Councillors pointed to the fact that TSN makes hundreds of millions of dollars in gross annual revenues and that Banff’s taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for a commercial enterprise.
Mayor Karen Sorensen said she certainly appreciates the Curling Skins Game is a great event to have in Banff, generating publicity for the townsite and surrounding national park.
“Council needs to consider if they don’t pay for use of the facility, then who is going to pay for those services? At the end of the day, it’s the ratepayers and taxpayers,” she said.
Sorensen said the Town has its own budget goals it needs to meet.
TSN representatives indicated the current climate of Bell Media means it’s difficult to get approval for events where revenues do not meet costs, she said.
“I get it. I would suggest that we have that same challenge. It would be difficult for me to approve an event where revenues do not meet our true costs,” said Sorensen.
“This is not a sleight to the event. I think it’s a great event for the town of Banff.”
The initial agreement struck with TSN included a 50 per cent sharing of ticket sales between the Canadian sports speciality service and the Town in lieu of facility fees, with a portion of Banff’s half being contributed to the curling club. TSN also reimbursed the municipality for true costs incurred as a result of the event.
The TSN Skins event did not occur in 2018 because it was an Olympic year. Since the last Skins event in 2017, council has adopted a new policy around public use of municipal facilities and amended fees and charges.
When TSN reached out to inquire about returning to the Fenlands, administration provided the quote that accounted for TSN’s use of all facilities amenities as it would for any other commercial business.
Over four years, the Town of Banff received about $19,000 a year on average as a portion of ticket sales, while the Banff Curling Club has seen about $6,000.
TSN’s proposal for 2019 and beyond is asking for the Town to waive the entire facility fee and does not include any ticket sale revenue as provided in past years. This represents a $15,000 loss to each of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Fenlands revenue lines.
Councillor Corrie DiManno said it’s common to see new events in the community seek financial support or in-kind support from the municipality, but the Skins Game is in its fifth year and is a well established event.
“I also did some light Googling and from what I could find TSN made gross revenue of upwards of $400 million in 2013, and for me, it’s hard to justify giving financial support to such a big company,” she said.
