The City of Hamilton, Ontario plans to build a new arena for its junior hockey league team. Interviewed on the topic by The Hamilton Spectator, Lee Igel, clinical associate professor at the NYUSPS Robert Preston Tisch Institute for Global Sport, stated that when it comes to new sports arenas and cities today, the social impact of a facility can be more important than improving economic opportunities.
According to Igel, “The measurements and metrics that worked in the past don’t hold up today. One of the big things that has not been adjusted for is social impact. In Canada especially, anyone who walks into an arena of any size, whether it’s NHL or OHL, knows how important it [the arena] is – that’s not a feature of economics, that’s a feature of social impact, it means something.”
Photo: A rink attendant cleans the snow from around the boards prior to the third period in a 2003 Bulldogs game. - Barry Gray, The Hamilton Spectator