Scratch N' Win Arena in Edmonton??

The Edmonton Oilers want a new arena and they have about $350M of the $450M needed to fulfill the dream that owner Daryl Katz has planned out. While Katz has put up $100M, the city of Edmonton put up $125M, a user-paid facility fee has put forth another $125M; the province of Alberta has said they won't put up money to help out the Oilers plight.

Yet, while the Wildrose Alliance Party has said "no" to helping out with the arena, but Danielle Smith of the Wildrose has proposed a "special lottery" to help raise fund for the arena, while those in the Progressive Conservative Party said if the city raised sales tax by just 1%, that could go towards the arena.

The idea of a lottery is a grand idea, and I have to thank Roger Kingkade of "The Show" on X 92.9 FM in Calgary for bringing this idea to my ears. You see, the shocking thing about this is that this isn't the first time that the Oilers (and the Flames) have had a lottery in the province. Back, let's say 2003 or so, both teams-- incorporation with Ford-- had a scratch-off lottery (the ticket is above) to help out both teams, as both were close to moving away and it was a way to get some money to help keep the team with their losses.

This is something that will not only allow the fans to help out with the arena, but also they could win something here and there-- as I'm sure that local businesses would chip in a prize here and there in order to not only help out; but to get some free publicity in the process. Plus, you have to figure this is much better than the province to give up some money-- which could help the Flames leverage for funding in possibly getting a new arena-- and probably better than raising city taxes if the city had to add onto their $125M donation so far.

I know if there is a lottery and if it's province-wide, I will definitely be going to get one. While I'm not a big fan of the Oilers, I would definitely support them in trying to get this money for their new arena if it means I won't have to pay more in taxes to fund it. It's better to possibly win something from paying up $5 for a ticket than possibly losing more when tax-time rolls around.