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David Braley says he has two non-MLSE offers for the Argonauts, including a non-profit model
Toronto Argonauts fans hoping for a new owner to take over from accused penny-pincher David Braley might be in luck soon even without a deal with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment—at least according to Braley. While the team still faces stadium issues, there are apparently groups interested in buying them. In a piece published Tuesday, Curtis Rush of The Toronto Star writes that Braley said he has two non-MLSE offers for the team, including one that would take the team to a non-profit model similar to the ones used by CFL teams in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan:
Braley said he has been approached by two new potential bidders.
Just two weeks ago, a prospective buyer emerged with the idea of setting up the Argos as a not-for-profit corporation. The economic model would be similar to the community-owned teams which are successfully run in the Western Division.
“I’m trying to evaluate how that one would work,” Braley said.
Another offer came in about six months ago, and Braley is not sure how strong the proposal is.
MLSE, the owner of the Maple Leafs, Marlies, Raptors and Toronto FC, approached Braley last year, but made no offer and there are no current discussions.
The non-profit idea could be intruiging. It's certainly worked out well for the three community-owned teams currently in the league, as they're believed to be the CFL's wealthiest. (They're also the only ones we have an accurate financial picture for, though, so that isn't a sure conclusion.) Some of that may be about the strength of those markets rather than ownership, but there is one clear advantage to community ownership; profits are either reinvested in the team immediately or put away for future team needs, not taken into private pockets. In particular, that's why the Roughriders have been able to spend so much ($38 million last year on things other than player salaries, including investments in strong coaching and front office staffs), and that's been a big factor in their recent success.
It may not be easy to set up a workable community ownership group in 2014, though. In Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Winnipeg, those groups exist largely because of the history involved, and it would be more challenging to create a new such group in today's stricter regulatory environment. The idea could theoretically work in Toronto, but you'd need substantial numbers of reasonably-wealthy people to make it happen, and for the team to be run as a non-profit, they'd have to give up the idea of ever getting anything back from it.
It is interesting that there are apparently two offers on the table and that neither is from MLSE, though. That should be taken with a grain of salt, as these comments are from Braley (and he certainly benefits from reports of increased interest in buying the team, as that might drive up the price and also reduce the pressure on him), but it's still notable. So much of the discussion about the Argonauts' sale has revolved around MLSE, with the practice facility partnership this summer in particular being suggested as an indicator of things to come, but MLSE reportedly hasn't even made Braley a firm offer, and their interest may cool now that MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum and his Rogers/Bon Jovi group have lost out on the NFL's Buffalo Bills. Much of MLSE's interest in the Argos was supposedly to help them boost the chances of bringing an NFL team to Toronto, and that group looked likely to move the Bills there. The chances of any NFL team in Toronto took a hard hit when the Bills were sold to local owner Terry Pegula, who plans to keep them in Buffalo (while likely still claiming Toronto as a market), and that may mean that MLSE no longer wants the Argos. Fortunately, at least if we believe Braley, they may no longer be the only buyers.
The increased numbers of potential buyers should be reassuring to those who think Braley's to blame for the team's struggles on and off the field, as that might up the chances he sells the team sooner rather than later. However, he argues that the changes he's made (and the marketing changes in particular) are because of inadequate performance, not cost-cutting:
“Right now, the marketing has been somewhat less than adequate,” Braley said.
Braley doesn’t disagree with critics who say he is to blame for the attendance woes that have crippled the team pretty much since he bought the franchise in 2010.
“I’m not doing a good enough job,” he said. “Isn’t that the truth? We haven’t sold enough tickets. We haven’t sold enough sponsorships. I have to take the blame. That’s my job to hire the people do it, and that’s why we’re making changes in those people.”
Well, that's a giant bus Braley just threw former employees under. That's also contradictory to the reports of him slashing the marketing budget and having employees leave with no replacements. Regardless of who's right there, though, a sale is probably best for everyone; Braley doesn't want to own the team (or the much easier-to-sell B.C. Lions) much longer, and many fans don't want him to either.
That reinforces the importance of finding a stadium solution and making the Argos an attractive property. New potential owners are promising, but without a stadium to give the team at least a chance at profitability, it seems unlikely that these reports will amount to much. Braley's comments here do bode somewhat well for a sale of the Argonauts, at least if they're accurate, but it seems likely that progress may have to be made on the stadium front before anything can happen on the ownership front.
