Ex-MLSE exec Hunter named Wolfpack’s top dog
TORONTO — Bob Hunter has overseen the growth of BC Place Stadium, Rogers Centre, Scotiabank Arena and BMO Field. Now he is looking to help take the Toronto Wolfpack to the next level.
The former Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment executive has been named chair and interim CEO of the transatlantic rugby league team.
He succeeds majority owner David Argyle, who gave up both jobs in early June after finding himself embroiled in a racism scandal.
The 65-year-old Hunter left MLSE in January after 22 years and started his own consulting practice.
He sees the Wolfpack job as his new full-time endeavour.
“It’s a great opportunity to bring some of that 22 years of experience to a reasonably new organization, even with the success they’ve had to date,” Hunter said in an interview. “I’ve been really, really pleasantly surprised at the sophistication of the business and look at it as a great opportunity to try and help that team grow to a new level.”
He inherits a club that has enjoyed great success on the field.
“Needless to say we’ve got a great team ... the playoffs (are) ahead of us, potential promotion ahead of us,” he said. “A great time to join.”
The Wolfpack (23-1-0) have already clinched the second-tier Betfred Championship regularseason title and are currently riding a 18-game win streak. With three games to go, they are preparing for the promotion playoffs.
But the franchise faces challenges off the pitch.
Toronto recently announced it would not televise two of its remaining home games to save money. The Wolfpack had been paying for production costs to air its games on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. Toronto distributed the broadcasts elsewhere, including Canada, where the matches were shown on Game TV and only by CBC.
The franchise itself is unique. While based in Toronto, there are no North Americans on the current roster and the team and its coaches live in England. When the Wolfpack play home games at Lamport Stadium, the team stays in temporary accommodations here.
Argyle found himself in the midst of a racism scandal after Swinton Lions prop Jose Kenga took aim at him on social media in early June. Kenga says, after approaching a teammate speaking to Argyle in the wake of the Lions’ 52-10 loss in Toronto on April 28, Argyle looked at him and said, “Do they allow black people in Swinton?’’ and then laughed.
Kenga said he told Argyle, “You can’t say that in this day and age, and he just laughed, brushed it off and handed over a drink token to me.’’
Argyle apologized and was fined £7,500 (C$12,045) by the Rugby Football League, the sport’s governing body. The Toronto-based Australian mining and resources entrepreneur remains the team’s majority owner.