Investment

Hosting NHL playoffs could help Edmonton attract investment and talent, say experts – Folio – University of Alberta

Published

4 years ago

June 12, 2020

If Edmonton is selected as one of the two host cities for the 2020 NHL playoffs, the big winners will be the province’s health-care system and its ability to attract talent, according to a pair of University of Alberta sports management researchers.

However, with no fans in the stands and participants all but quarantined to their rooms, the economic benefit is thought to be insignificant.

So why bother lobbying the NHL to be a host city?

“Outsiders are going to say, ‘Look at Alberta’s ability to handle this pandemic,’ and that is great for the province from a marketing standpoint,” said sports marketing professor Marvin Washington.

He said people looking to change locations for work before the COVID-19 pandemic wouldn’t give health care a second thought.

“Now you’re thinking about health care in terms of, can I get tested? What if something’s wrong? Who’s going to make the decisions? We’ve seen it play out all over the world, and different cities have responded differently,” said Washington.

“That’s why I think the benefit of having the NHL is when people say, ‘Look, obviously health care in Alberta must be amazing.’”

Not only is it good for bringing people in, Washington said, but Alberta’s response to COVID-19 might also be enticing for companies to invest here.

“Why not put your staff here, instead of putting them in Toronto or New York if they’re going to get sick there?” he said. “I would say the benefit of this city is that this city was able to deal with the pandemic.”

As for the economy, sport management professor Dan Mason said a large regional sports tournament will have a bigger impact as there will be limitations on the experiences of the players themselves.

“It’s not like they’re not going to be shopping the whole time,” he said. “It’s going to benefit some businesses, but it wouldn’t be the same as hosting a large minor hockey tournament and having all the families come from northern Alberta and spend their money at West Edmonton Mall.”

From a promotion standpoint, Mason agrees that how the province handled the pandemic is on full display, but doesn’t think anyone is going to change their travel plans to come to Edmonton because of a visual they get at a hockey game.

“It’s more there’s this hierarchy of cities and they are constantly trying to compete with each other for the attraction and retention of talented people, businesses and tourists,” he said. “Cities are constantly engaged in some kind of competition with each other, and this is just one other thing they could potentially be doing that with.”

Mason said the discourse around the NHL bringing the playoffs to Edmonton is not that different from some of the discourse that occurs around attracting a team in the first place, which of course includes the economic benefits and level of pride or energy the team will bring, both of which can be measured, somewhat.

The pride measurement used is known as the Contingent Valuation Method, which grew out of environmental economics to help value things that don’t have value in the marketplace, such as parks and wetlands.

Fifteen years ago, when the idea of Rogers Place was still in its infancy, Mason asked Edmontonians how much they would be willing to pay in the form of a tax to have the arena downtown as opposed to somewhere else. For a downtown arena the answer was $30 million. For the playoffs, Mason said that number might be closer to zero.

“There certainly are people in Alberta who will feel proud that we’re hosting the playoffs, but when it comes down to it, I think people just want to see some playoff hockey,” he said.

As well, Mason noted there are little elements behind the push that would be in the Oilers’ self-interest.

“I’m sure the Oilers organization would love to have players getting a feel for the city, thinking that might help them attract players down the road.

“The Oilers have this beautiful, state-of-the-art facility and they want to do something with it,” he said. “I would feel like we can do this. Why aren’t we?”

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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

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Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

3 weeks ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

4 weeks ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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