Brampton City Council as reported by the Toronto Star is considering a bailout of the Brampton Beast hockey team that currently plays at the Powerade Centre. Really? Sports, especially hockey, should be part of Brampton’s economic landscape but not at the cost to tax payers. Are we as a City really considering another Hockey Team bailout, to the amount of $1,500,000?
Where is the long term plan or do we just keep going around in circles? The Powerade site can be a successful and profitable Sports Hub and I am surprised that this has not already been established. Other than the Powerade Centre itself, what reason does the average sports fan have to go to visit this location, which is neatly tucked away and out of sight from all that might be interested?
The venue (or should we just call it a site?) seems to be desperately in need of a plan that includes rental space, showcase style fields, diamonds and facilities that would attract organizations like Baseball Canada, Cricket Canada, and Soccer Canada. We are within 15 minutes of Canada’s largest Airport, 30 Minutes from Downtown Toronto and Hamilton. We need to start promoting Brampton as a Sports Business destination.
In an economy that keeps seeing our Canadian dollar dropping, the City of Brampton needs to capitalize on Tourism dollars and make Brampton via Sport a destination everyone wants to come to. It’s time to maximize groups and organization, like the Brampton Sports Alliance and the newly approved Sport Council to help build our local economy.  See Related Article – Curing Brampton’s Economy with Sports.
