Enlarge Molson Stadium?

The Als and McGill University are trying to leverage as-yet unpledged $4 million to get the city, the province and the feds to invest $23 million to add 5,000 seats to Molson Stadium. While CFL football has been a hit in Montreal since the Alouettes moved back to the staidum on the hill several years ago. The team is asking season ticket holders to pony up at least $250 each (tax deductible, naturally) to get the ball rolling.

While professional sports and university infrastructure are important to a city's lifeline, there doesn't seem to be anything pressing the team, other than visions of a better bottom line. There's nothing to suggest the team would regularly sell an additional 5,000 seats per game (though it's not hard to imagine), and with Quebec's universities claiming they need an injection of at least $375 million, why should we spend so much to make a football team more lucrative. Why not, say, invest in the symphony orchestra - the plaything of a different kind of elite - and end the MSO strike? Why not tack on a $5,000 assessment to each hypothetical new seat? When will governments learn that sports is a business that should do fine on its own?