Moncton’s City Manager is attempting to clarify the payments made to the Wildcats after scheduling conflicts during the playoffs.
Jacques Dube says 59,700 dollars was given to the Wildcats to account for lost revenue.
He adds the payment, while large, is not all that bad in comparison to the economic benefits brought to the city by the trade shows.
Over the last 19 years, Dube says an average of three trade shows take place during playoff seasons, bringing more than 4.5 million dollars to the local economy.
One of the shows this year to displace the Wildcats was the NB Sportsmen show, Dube says more than 70 percent of the more than 9,000 tickets sold were to people living more than 80 kilometres outside of Moncton.
He says that proves those ticket holders spent money on hotels, restaurants and possibly other stores around Moncton.
Dube adds as City Manager he is allowed to authorize payments up to 75,000 dollars without the explicit approval of Council.
The total payments to the Wildcats by the City this year total almost 180,000 dollars.
