Argos’ shakeup sees Rudge replace Nicholson, but he’ll have to focus long-term to succeed

It's no secret that the Toronto Argonauts have a lot invested in this upcoming season. They're hosting the 100th Grey Cup, which will be one of the most important CFL title games in recent memory, and one that could potentially help them escape accusations of irrelevance. There's a clear on-field focus towards winning now and doing so in entertaining fashion, as has been shown by moves like trading for Ricky Ray and bringing in Montreal offensive guru Scott Milanovich as the new head coach. Their move Monday to replace club president Bob Nicholson with Chris Rudge could be another move aimed at improving the immediate future, but if it's to be successful, Rudge will have to think about the long-term future as well as what's immediately ahead.

Of course, it's not like Rudge is a stranger to the club. After working as the Canadian Olympic Committee's chief executive officer from January 2003 until April 2010, he joined the Argonauts in June 2010 as the chairman and CEO of the 100th Grey Cup Festival. In that role, he's already been working to some extent with the team's day-to-day operations staff, and he's also served as the club's chairman and alternate governor. Monday's announcement that Nicholson was resigning and Rudge would be stepping in as chairman and CEO of the team just adds more to his plate, but Rudge said that won't be a problem.

That quote's rather revealing in a number of ways. The Argonauts do have some major issues, and perhaps the most notable is their attendance. Their reported attendance was a league-worst 20,018 per game in 2011, and even that may be high considering reports from people on-scene. Of course, most of that isn't on Nicholson (not the Hockey Canada administrator), who was the club's president from 1995 to 1999 and led them to back-to-back Grey Cups in 1996 and 1997. By most accounts, he did an impressive job since rejoining the team in 2009, and he certainly wasn't helped by the on-field product; the team went 3-15 in his first year, then rebounded to 9-9 in 2010 before slumping to 6-12 in 2011. Given those records and a generally uninspiring style of play, Nicholson didn't have a lot to work with.

On-field changes are already happening, though, so why the move to Rudge? Well, one theory is that the team believes Rudge will be a better salesperson for their product. His experience in that regard is reasonably impressive, as he generally did a solid job of selling Olympic sports to Canadians for seven years and was an important part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, and he's already proven willing to engage with media. In just his first day on the job, Rudge popped onto Sportsnet The Fan 590's Prime Time Sports, and he also spoke with The Toronto Star and The Toronto Sun. He's also previously mentioned his desire for an exciting, high-scoring on-field product, which seems to fit with the Argonauts' coaching hires and personnel moves.

It's not that Nicholson was media-shy; in fact, he popped up on the Argonauts' season preview conference call in May, while many teams only had their football personnel present. Still, Rudge is a proven media-savvy guy from his Olympic stints, and his experience running the 2012 Grey Cup Festival will certainly help to promote that. The Rudge move appears to be partly thanks to his history of success with the Canadian Olympic Committee, partly thanks to his long relationship with team owner Senator David Braley and partly thanks to his proven ability to promote big events, and none of those things are bad.

It is worth noting that the Argonauts have more to worry about than just this year, though. For one thing, they'll have to find a suitable long-term replacement for their Mississauga training facility, which suffered approximately $500,000 in damages as the result of a December fire. For another, they may have to find a new stadium solution; their Rogers Centre lease expires in 2012, and there have been suggestions from Toronto Blue Jays' president Paul Beeston that the facility may switch to natural grass, which would likely preclude it being used for both baseball and football. If that happens, the Argonauts will need a new home, and landing a suitable one won't be easy. Moreover, the team also needs to turn around their attendance and marketplace visibility issues, and they need to do so for the long term, not just 2012. Rudge's primary focus may be to promote the 2012 Grey Cup and the run-up to it, but he'll also need to keep one eye on the long-term future if his tenure's going to be successful.