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For the city of Pittsburgh, it’s a hard choice between
keeping the Penguins in town and bringing in the slot machines. Right now
the fate of a new stadium for the Penguins comes down to who will get the
slot machines. The Penguins don’t want to stay in the city without a new
stadium, and that is understandable considering the current Mellon Arena is
45 years old and their lease is up in mid-2007. But the war for the slot
machines licenses will play a large part in whether they stay or move on.
All of the three slot machine contenders vow to donate money to build the
new stadium if they receive the slot machines license, but only the Isle of
Capri offered to build the entire new arena if approved for the slots
license. That definitely sounds like the best deal for the Penguins—there
would be no guarantee that the arena would ever have enough funds with just
the donations of the other slots parlors. But the Allegheny County Chief
Executive, Dan Onorato pledges to the team and to citizens that even in Isle
doesn’t get the slots, the Penguins will get their new stadium.
But if you ask the NHL Commissioner, he is not so sure that the arena really
would be finished without the revenue from the Isle of Capri’s slot
machines. Though some land has been bought for the Penguins already, he
believes that the Isle of Capri is still the safest and surest way to
finance the new arena. The Commissioner, Gary Bettman went on to say, "I
think I've been very clear about this: We want the Penguins to stay in
Pittsburgh. This is a great market, there are great fans here, and we would
like nothing better for Pens to have a new arena ... and on the right
economic terms, so we don't have to worry about the long-term viability of
the franchise. If we have to deal with something else, a lot of factors come
into play and I can't be as certain about the future."
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