DOUBLE-BLUE HOPES TO BE MORE RED
New Argos boss Manning looks to emulate TFC’s success
If sports juggernaut MLSE can’t right the Argos’ ship, nobody can.
President Bill Manning says the embattled CFL team will have equal footing under his guidance.
The Leafs are the Leafs. The Raptors have exploded. Toronto FC, he said, is shattering records.
“Our plan is to make the Argos just as important,” Manning, who also oversees MLS Cup champs Toronto FC, told Postmedia News. “The Argos are going to be a priority in a lot of ways.”
Manning’s vision for the Argos is to replicate what he has helped establish with the Reds.
“Can we get to the point where we’re selling 25,000 tickets a game and the team is competing for (Grey Cups) year in, year out? That’s my vision,” he said. “How long does it take? I don’t know.”
Manning referred to the Argos’ rebirth as a “long play” — a process that’s certain to take far more time than it took to build Toronto FC into one of the most successful franchises in Canada.
“We’ve gotten to a point where our demand has surpassed our supply — which is a good spot to be in,” Manning said of TFC, adding the club’s season ticket base will balloon to 24,500 this year.
“I say this humbly,” Manning continued, “TFC is hitting on all cylinders, across the board.”
So much so that TFC intends to keep the extra north-end seats it added for last year’s playoffs.
Additionally, Manning said he’s looking at options to expand BMO by as many as 5,000 seats.
“The atmosphere at BMO has just become so electric that it became a really hot ticket,” he said.
Manning explained that an 84% show rate — up from 72% in 2015 — prevented TFC from announcing what would have been considered sellouts in terms of tickets-sold late last season.
“You’ll always see empty seats,” Manning said. “That doesn’t mean the seat wasn’t paid for.”
This year, he said, could be even better following TFC’s playoff run. Between season tickets and group sales, MLSE expects every TFC match to sell out within 60 days of every fixture.
“I don’t think we’re going to have many single-game sells at all,” Manning suggested.
The club’s 98.5% season-ticket renewal rate, he said, “is approaching Maple Leafs territory.”
“It’s real money,” he continued. “You look at the gates we’re generating. You can do the math.”
With an average ticket price of $45, TFC brings in nearly $1.2 million in single-game ticket sales.
Toronto FC revenue is up 30% since 2015. TV viewership is up almost 200%, Manning said.
“If you have a good product, everything goes up,” he added. “Same thing with the Argos. Every decision we make is about what we need to do to win, and leveraging that to build our business.”
After averaging 16,380 fans per game in 2016, the Argos lost 38% of their existing season-seat holders. The storied franchise’s renewal rate this off-season improved to 82%, Manning said.
“The one thing I keep challenging myself with is that this is a market with six million people,” Manning said. “Can I find 25,000 people a game, eight times a year, who will come?”
Furthermore, can MLSE convince at least some of the 400,000 TV viewers to get off the couch?
“How do we convince those people to come out to the game?” Manning asked. “What I do know, though, is that the folks at 50 Bay St. are really good. I have a lot of faith in that group.”
The Argos have never had what TFC has: “Arguably one of the most successful sports organizations in the world ... saying, ‘We think (the Argos) have legs.’ We’re going to give it the attention it needs and the resources it needs,” Manning explained.
While MLSE doesn’t intend to cross-sell the CFL and MLS, the league’s newest executive expounded on the benefits of bringing the Argos beneath the company’s umbrella.
“We have 100 people who at any given time can shift attention to the Argos or TFC,” Manning said, a benefit of being owned by a company with a database of 13 million prospective fans.
While Manning’s fairly involved in player personnel at TFC, he admits he’s going to leave most football decisions up to GM Jim Popp and coach Marc Trestman.
“I joked with Jim and said, ‘I’m not going to be telling you which wide receiver to sign. I’m going to lean on your expertise and how we can support you,’” Manning said.
Unlike with Toronto FC, Manning doesn’t need to help build a winner in the CFL.
Yet his challenge with the Argos is likely to prove far more difficult.
“How do you continue being a contender and build some buzz in the marketplace so people want to come out and spend some money and buy tickets?” Manning said. “That’s the challenge.”