ARGOS JOINING MLSE FAMILY,
ROGERS ANTES UP AFTER NFL- GAZING GOES SOUR
Things move rather quickly around Toronto with all these heady championships to celebrate and all these dollars to move around.
One minute, Larry Tanenbaum was on stage accepting the Grey Cup on behalf of he and his partners from Bell, and then fast-forward to him making a speech at City Hall.
The next minute, it seemed, there was Tanenbaum, holding up the MLS Cup in celebration, on behalf of Canada’s foremost sporting corporation, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. and making another speech at City Hall.
For years, we couldn’t get a peep out of Championship Larry and the only Cup he raised held his morning coffee. Now we can’t get him to turn down the volume.
And so life changes just a little bit in this sporting market where success is now new and change seems both inevitable and somewhat unlikely. This at a time when the Blue Jays, owned solely by Rogers, may or may not be for sale. But we do know this, the champion Argonauts, owned by Tanenbaum and Bell on Tuesday, will be sold essentially to Tanenbaum, Bell and Rogers, better known to most of you as MLSE.
They used to be a company that could win money, just not games. Now, they’re doing just about everything right.
At one time, Rogers wanted nothing to do with either the Argos or the Canadian Football League. Rogers had NFL interest. That’s why it chose not to be part of the sale when David Braley moved the rather desolate Argos two seasons back.
Well, the NFL dream died here drastically, first with the massive failure of the Bills in the Toronto series, and afterwards with the inability of Tanenbaum, Jon Bon Jovi and corporate friends to purchase the Buffalo Bills, ideally with the notion of moving that franchise north.
Now, Rogers has had a change of heart, possibly wanting in with the championship Argos, maybe seeing some television possibilities with the CFL eventually expanding to a 10th team, or maybe it just thought the synergies here worked well enough f or everyone i nvolved.
“This is a great day for the CFL,” said commissioner Randy Ambrosie, who admits he wasn’t involved with the sale but was kept abreast of the situation by both Tanenbaum and his attorney, Dale Lastman. “MLSE is building a winning culture here in Toronto and you combine that with the Argos winning a championship, and that has to work for everybody here.”
When asked about the inclusion of Rogers as a CFL partner, considering the past eye- gazing at the NFL, Ambrosie was quite clear: “I had a chance to visit with (Sportsnet’s) Scott Moore recently and found him to be tremendously engaging and interested in what we were doing. I see them being a great partner for the league.”
The Argos, wins aside, need some help. They played to an average audience of more seats empty than filled. Their players are mostly unknowns. They did about half what Toronto FC did in attendance at BMO Field. The ticket sales, the marketing, the selling of the Argos was done primarily by people with limited experience operating the business of professional sports. Now, they have that MLSE engine behind them.
More Torontonians seem to care about TFC than they do about the Argos, but when Matt Black made his gamesaving interception late in the 105th Grey Cup, six million Canadians were watching on TV. That was three times the number of views than when Victor Vasquez scored to make it 2- 0 on MLS Cup Saturday night.
That’s the contradiction here. TFC sells tickets. The Argos get TV watchers. Maybe if MLSE can find a way to translate a little of one to the other it will benefit both teams — and the company — in the long run.
These are the inexpensive toys of MLSE, the multibillion- dollar company. The Leafs and the Raptors are the big dogs. They’re huge players who have grown together off each other’s synergies. The Raptors, the better marketers. The Leafs, the behemoth of all Canadian franchises.
When the Raptors needed help early on with ticket sales, Leaf ticket holders were all but forced into doling out cash. That same kind of pressure selling — if you buy this ticket, you must buy that ticket — could well be in play here short term with the Argos.
Although all of this is so new. It doesn’t become official until next month. No one is clearly saying how this will work, but it will.
USED TO BE A COMPANY THAT COULD WIN MONEY, NOT GAMES.