Rogers may put Blue Jays on the block

TORONTO — Talk of Rogers Communications Inc. possibly selling the Toronto Blue Jays, while keeping a connection to Canada’s only major league baseball team, makes a lot of sense to Norman Levine — and he has an unusual perspective.

Levine is not only a proud, long-time Jays fan, but also managing director of Portfolio Management Corp., which invests money on behalf of individuals and families with at least $1 million of investable assets.

As a fan, Levine would be happy to see the team sold to an enthusiastic owner or group. As a chartered financial analyst, he thinks that Rogers doesn’t need to own a professional sports team and should sell it for the best possible deal.

“If Rogers puts the Blue Jays up for sale, it should come with not only a nice price tag but also with an agreement that Rogers will be the exclusive TV, radio, internet — whatever you can think of — broadcaster for that team for (as many) years as they can get away with in their contract.” “That’s where the money is for Rogers, Levine said. He was commenting a day after a senior Rogers executive said the Toronto-based company — one of Canada’s biggest wireless, cable and media firms — is considering a sale of the team and its stake in a smaller cable and media company to free up capital for its main communications businesses.

Rogers chief financial officer Tony Staffieri didn’t discuss who might buy the team, or if a deal would include the Rogers Centre, or what they would be worth. In fact, he didn’t say a sale is necessarily going to happen.

Aravinda Galappatthige, an analyst who covers Rogers for Canaccord Genuity, estimates that the Blue Jays would be worth about $3.20 per share of Rogers, based on an estimated value of $1.65 billion for the team. He estimates the Rogers Centre is worth about $200 million to $400 million.