One thing that should be noted about the Chamber report is the timing. It was released the day after the elections. Voters in Ohio rejected casino measures three times before Tuesday, but now with the state economy in the toilet, they voted them in. And the measure calls for a casino to be built within a few blocks of Nationwide Arena. So picture this: A casino is built in a thriving area (the Arena District) that will be vacated by the very item that made the area thriving, the Blue Jackets. Look for the Blue Jackets to ask for a cut of the casino revenues and watch Gary Bettman squirm.

You paid $80 to watch the BJs.

Buser focused on the economic benefit that the arena and team are now providing to the central Ohio economy. Using conservative figures — just 10 of the 170 businesses located near the arena — he found that the tax contributions from team and spinoff development could grow to $43.8 million by 2013. By 2018, the number could be $60.7 million.

If the team left town, those taxes would not go to zero, Buser acknowledged. He noted that a possible casino could be “a huge factor,” but its effect was not part of his report.

Boy, you have to love that little caveat there, don’t you? They don’t put it up with the lede, the other place they say that there’s $30 million a year in tax revenue involved. Oh, no. They bury it at the bottom of the story, along with no attempt to enlighten us as to how much of this pot of tax revenue is actually generated by the team.

Wait, did you notice that the newspaper that printed this is a part owner of the team? And of the arena? There’s no conflict of interest here.

Quite aside from the question of whether there is any funny accounting going on here (though it can’t be as amusing as a couple of cases we looked at in class today; who here knew that you don’t have to liquidate LIFO layers when you close the books every quarter?), this is a marvelous attempt to insinuate that the team is more valuable to the city than it really is.

Its sad to hear this about the Jackets, I hope they can work things out. Great atmosphere in that arena. Put them in the East and cut their travels costs in half. I know that won’t fix their problems but it couldnt hurt.I don’t understand why they were in the west to begin with.

The Blue Jackets situation doesn’t seem to me to be quite as bad as some are portraying it. I would guess they are losing about $4-4.5 million annually on hockey operations, based on the figures quoted in many places. On the other hand, their total losses are a claimed $12 million annually and a total of $80 million in the past seven years. According to Doug MacLean, who I’ll admit isn’t the most credible source, $17 million of the $80 million total was during the lockout since, according to MacLean, team owner John McConnell refused to allow the team to RIF/layoff any employees.

Assuming a marginal 35% tax rate, the total loss over the time period becomes $52 million. In the meanwhile according to Forbes, the team was valued at $157 million. The team was purchased for $80 million in 1997. They clearly aren’t making money, but when you factor in capital gains of approximately $77 million and if sold a capital gains tax of 15% of the gain, the net gain is $65.45 over time. When offset by the $52 million, it’s a net gain of $13.5 million. It’s not a great return, but no one is going broke just yet.