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Manitoba premier threatens to intervene if Winnipeg Blue Bombers can’t get house in order

andrew bucholtz

The 2-11 Winnipeg Blue Bombers are enough of a mess that the provincial government might step in to reform their governance structure. Manitoba premier Greg Selinger, who famously shot back at Saskatchewan counterpart Brad Wall after Wall's Banjo Bowl video (oddly enough, the Banjo Bowl proved to be a rare win for the Bombers), is now making noise about potentially altering the makeup of the team's much-criticized board and allowing fans to play a role in corporate governance. That would normally be a reach for a premier, but Selinger actually has the authority to make plenty of sweeping changes to the Bombers if the team falls behind on the payments on the massive loan they took out from the province to build Investor's Group Field. Via Gary Lawless of The Winnipeg Free Press, here are the details:

While the province has no say in how the Blue Bombers are run, the loan agreement that financed the team's new stadium gives Selinger options if the team defaults.

Sources have told the Free Press Selinger is interested in a new operational model that would not only allow for greater transparency, but also the opportunity for fans to elect its board of directors. In the case of the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders and the NFL's Green Bay Packers, the fan-elected boards hire a chief executive officer and then step back to play a role in the team's governance.

Selinger has already told Bombers CEO Wade Miller and a select group of the club's board of directors they must live up to their loan obligation.

"Blue Bomber fans have always stuck with their team through good times and bad. The premier believes it only makes sense for the Bombers to consider options that would provide the best fans in the league with a direct say in the future of their team," Selinger's spokesman Matt Williamson said in a statement released Wednesday night. "There are examples in the CFL and NFL where fans have the opportunity to vote on board appointments."

Ordinarily, a premier interfering in a CFL club's affairs would be a problematic idea, but there are several unusual factors here that make this seem like a good plan. For one, Selinger's concept of having the board be appointed and/or endorsed by fans is a good one: it's worked in other cities (heck, MLS' Seattle Sounders even let their fans vote on whether or not to retain their general manager), and it would provide much more accountability to the fans than the current system where the board is self-appointed. Beyond that, Selinger also has a legitimate reason to intervene (and the authority to do so) if the club falls behind on its payments. The Bombers owe the province big-time, and that may force them to make some changes according to what the premier wants.

Will this actually lead to anything? Well, not likely in the immediate future. The Bombers have a lowered payment schedule for the next few years thanks to immediate stadium costs, and their fans have still turned out in impressive numbers despite the team's poor on-field showing. Yes, they're currently paying a lot of people not to work for them (including former head coach Paul LaPolice, former general manager Joe Mack and former CEO Garth Buchko), but when you throw in the increased revenue headed their way next year from the CFL's new TV deal, their finances shouldn't be too bad.

Thus, the Bombers may not default, and Selinger may not have an excuse to intervene. The club would be smart to listen to and implement some version of his idea on their own before he makes them, though. It's a good plan, it would make fans happy and it would please their biggest creditor. There aren't many downsides to that.