WETENHALL CONFIDENT
Interview with Als owner
The team that will exclusively be his one day can be competitive and make the Canadian Football League playoffs this season, Andrew Wetenhall believes. And it’s one that will remain in the family for the foreseeable future, he vowed.
“I do believe this is a team that can win games — and quite a few,” the team’s 42-year-old lead governor, and co-owner with his father, Robert, said Monday during a one-on-one interview with the Montreal Gazette while watching practice.
“We’re realists,” he quickly added. “But there’s absolutely no reason I can imagine why this team can’t make the playoffs and can’t be a real competitive threat against the other teams, certainly in (the East) Division and across the league.
“This is going to be a competitive team.”
Other than the team’s annual golf tournament, held last week, the New York-based investment banker has kept a low public profile, generally refusing interview requests and failing to respond to text messages. But Wetenhall, who makes frequent trips to Montreal, has vowed he’s about to become more visible and accessible.
Professional football in this city wouldn’t exist without the involvement of his octogenarian father, who rescued the insolvent franchise from Michael Gelfand and Jim Speros in 1997. And while the Als enjoyed their share of salad days — eight Grey Cup appearances over 11 years along with a string of 105 consecutive sellouts at Molson Stadium corresponding with that period — the franchise has become a shadow of itself, both on and off the field. Robert Wetenhall undoubtedly has lost millions on the club.
The Als haven’t made the playoffs since 2014 and, with a seasonticket base optimistically pegged at 8,500, are struggling to create interest. The younger Wetenhall said he has no desire to sell once he becomes the lone family member writing the cheques, but admitted there could be a limit to his philanthropy. Truthfully, from a business perspective, this would be the worst time to sell, provided he was entertaining any such thoughts.
“I’m highly committed to this team becoming successful and highly committed to keeping this team part of the Wetenhall family,” he said. “I’m extremely passionate about football, really passionate about Montreal and passionate about having the opportunity to do this.
“I think we can turn it into a successful business. I’m not holding onto this, losing a lot of money, so we can get another Grey Cup. We’re not trying to fix this investment so we can sell it on a prettier day. That’s not the mission. It’s to build this into a viable business that can sustain itself.”
While fielding a winning product would certainly help, Wetenhall acknowledged, it’s not exclusive to success, he maintained. That means creating a player identity through social media, indoctrinating them into the landscape so people know where they live, the food they eat, their hobbies and other pertinent details.
Wetenhall credited president Patrick Boivin, whom he described as “very capable,” for restructuring the business model. That includes the team’s interaction with corporate sponsors and individual seat holders; repositioning who the Als are in the community.
But he also admitted the organization must develop and deliver innovative and exciting fan experiences, both inside and outside the stadium, while playing championship-calibre football.
Kavis Reed, according to Wetenhall, is a “high-quality” general manager who gets criticized unfairly. Reed, Wetenhall said, has “changed the guts” of the Als’ football operations. He worked closely with the Olympic Installations Board so the team could practise on site and not travel by school bus to St-Léonard. The dressing room and facilities treatment room have been overhauled, at Reed’s initiative, while the club now travels by charter to road games.
Wetenhall even defended Reed’s handling of the quarterback situation and the Als’ apparent lack of one who can win on a consistent basis. Veteran Drew Willy will start the regular season as the firststring pivot. It became apparent, only days into training camp, former first-round NFL draft choice Josh Freeman wouldn’t provide the solution.
“We had five on the roster. One person won that spot who’s won a lot of games in the past and who the coaching staff has a lot of confidence can win games, beginning immediately for this club,” Wetenhall said. “This season. This week.”
We’re not trying to fix this investment so we can sell it on a prettier day. That’s not the mission.