There has been considerable spin by the Katz group and some of their friends (HERE, HERE and HERE) to convince Edmontonians that the real reason why they can't fund their own arena is that Canadian owners have tried that in the past and have all gone bankrupt because of the arena.

This simply isn't true.  Or at least the arena was not the only or even major factor in any of the cases.

In this three-part series we will look at the true story behind the bankruptcies. (Part 1 HERE)

Part 2: The Vancouver Canucks and GM Place (now Rogers Arena)

In 1995, Vancouver Canucks owner, Arthur Griffiths, completed building the $160 million ($220 million in 2011 dollars) GM Place (now Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.  Arthur Griffiths had inherited the team his father had paid $8.5 million for in 1974.  The arena, which was originally slated to be only $100 million, had been started in 1993 before financing had been secured.  One year previous to the completion of GM Place, in 1994, Griffiths also paid $125 million ($175 million in 2011 dollars) expansion fee for the NBA expansion team, the Vancouver Grizzlies, far higher than the $32.5 million paid for the previous four NBA expansion teams. 

The Grizzlies were hamstrung by the NBA immediately.  They were denied a top five draft pick in their first year as well as restricted from having the top draft pick in their first five seasons.  Moreover, the NBA would not allow the Grizzlies to spend to their salary cap on players in their first two seasons.  As a result the Grizzlies suffered on the court and at the box office.

Thanks, in part, to over-extending himself with the pricy expansion fee and poor performance of his NBA team, in addition to the precarious situation facing all Canadian NHL teams in the mid-1990s (low Canadian dollar, rising player salaries, no salary cap, loss of NHL team revenue due to the lockout), Griffiths sold his remaining shares in the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Grizzlies and GM Place to his partner, Seattle businessman John McCaw in 1996.

To recap why Griffiths had to sell the team and the arena:

• Low Canadian dollar
• Rising player salaries
• No player salary cap
• Loss of team revenue during the 1994 NHL lockout
• Cost over-runs on building arena (from $100m to $160m)
• Over-extended himself financially with a pricey $125m NBA franchise
• NBA restricting team from being sucessful