Braley to sell Lions in 2017

CFL Talk
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CFL News ?@CFL_News
Skulsky then added the sale of the #BCLions won’t be undertaken until 2017. - @willesonsports #CFL

[b]The health of Lions owner David Braley has raised a number of issues within the organization, not the least of which are the structure of the front office and the impending sale of the team. That, in turn, has created an air of uncertainty which isn’t the best development for a franchise which is struggling to reclaim its place in this market after three lost seasons.
Skulsky, who’s resumed the president’s role, was asked if Braley will be back with the team this season.
“That’s a good question,? he answered. “I honestly don’t know but I don’t see it in the short term.?

Skulsky then added the sale of the team won’t be undertaken until 2017.

Buono was asked if the work environment is difficult knowing a new owner will come in who might want to do things differently.
“There will be a new owner coming in who’ll want to do things differently,? he says. “When that occurs, I’m not sure but it’s going to occur. I’m just saying I know what I have to do. I know what my responsibilities are. And we’re moving forward.?[/b]

[url=http://vancouversun.com/sports/football/cfl/bc-lions/willes-braleys-health-leaves-leos-with-an-uncertain-future]http://vancouversun.com/sports/football ... ain-future[/url]
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First, best wishes to David Braley who’s battling a fairly serious health issue right now. But the sale of the team is really something that should have happened after the 2011 Grey Cup win (over the Bombers) at home.

Things have kind of deteriorated here over the past number of years. “Left to rot” might be over-stating it, but they certainly haven’t done anything dynamic. Can all of this be pinned directly on David Braley? Not exactly. But I will say this. I appreciate everything he’s done. It’s just that the club really needs committed local ownership with an understanding of this (rather peculiar) market.

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Vancouver has changed since I was there in the early 70’s. Looks like the city demographics now are all “new Canadians” based on the demographic maps on the Internet. Is there any one left down town that cares about any of the sports in Vancouver? Is there enough fans that would care if the Lions were relocated on the outskirts of Vancouver or another city?

I should also mention that friends with family in Vancouver always talk about Seattle. By the looks of both cities shouldn’t it be the other way around?

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IMO the main issue for lack of interest in the Lions is a simple lack of good marketing. Same issue the Argos had when Braley owned them.

I live in metro Van, and go into the downtown core quite often, and almost never see any Lions ads. The only place I used to regularly see Lions ads was at Translink (the metro transit) stations, and I have not even seen those for a few years now.

Most people need to have something shoved in their face to know or care about it. Especially those with little spare time.

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I have heard that there are or were 5 interested parties in purchasing the Lions. Is that still true?

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This is true, The Lions are a good value, Braley will have no problem selling

Skulsky did say, however, that there is a “pretty good line of people interested in buying this club.?
“These are not tire-kickers. These are legitimate people who are interested in buying it.
“When the time is right … David is going to find the best owner for the club. Not the owner with the deepest pockets or the most money. This is not what this is about. This is about finding an owner that’s passionate and committed to this community.?
Skulsky said he hadn’t yet decided if he would lead a potential ownership group, but left open the possibility of him choosing to do that when the time comes for such a decision.
The Lions are coming off another semifinal playoff loss and an inconsistent 7-11 season under first-year head coach Jeff Tedford and Canadian Football Hall of Famer and team general manager Wally Buono.
After closing off the upper bowl in BC Place Stadium for this past season, the Lions averaged just over 21,200 fans over the course of their home schedule, based on attendance numbers from their website.
That’s about 77 per cent capacity in the lower bowl arrangement, which seats around 27,500.

[url=http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2015/11/18/b-c--lions-not-for-sale-right-now--says-president-dennis-skulsky.html]http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/ ... ulsky.html[/url]

The Lions Lease at BC Place is golden!

[i][b]The BC Lions pay no rent on the first $9 million of net ticket sales to play at BC Place Stadium, according to their contract with BC Pavilion Corporation that was released under freedom of information on April 21.

The contract was inked in fall 2011, after the stadium reopened from a $514-million renovation that included a new retractable roof. In 2013-2014, the public-owned stadium reported its latest annual loss, $13.3 million.

The public release ends a nearly four-year quest for the document that went through two inquiries with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. An adjudicator dismissed both PavCo and the Lions’ fears of financial harm, should the contract be released, as speculative.

Since 2013, the threshold of $9 million in net ticket sales has been tied to inflation and is the first of a six-step rent calculation for the 10 scheduled Canadian Football League home games. After the rent-free $9 million, the Lions are charged 10 per cent on the next million, 12.5 per cent on the next million, 15 per cent on the next million, 17.5 per cent on the next million and 20 per cent on all amounts over $13 million.[/b][/i]

[url=http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/04/23/BC-Lions-Rent-Contract/]http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/04/23/BC-Li ... -Contract/[/url]
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The whole ‘free rent’ thing is a bit of double speak since PavCo charges Lions fans $3 each per ticket, which amounted to over $60,000 a game, or more than $500,000 for the 2015 season. PavCo just charges the fans directly rather than collecting it in ‘rent’ from the Lions organization. Then there are also ticketmaster fees, which I imagine PavCo gets a cut of. If so, they receive another form of ‘rent’ indirectly from the Lions without it officially being called ‘rent’.

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Skulsky did say, however, that there is a “pretty good line of people interested in buying this club.? “These are not tire-kickers. These are legitimate people who are interested in buying it. “When the time is right … David is going to find the best owner for the club. Not the owner with the deepest pockets or the most money. This is not what this is about. This is about finding an owner that’s passionate and committed to this community.?
We've been fed this BS for a number of years now; about how people are lining up to buy the Lions, but the time to sell.....just isn't now. But soon....

Currently the only known party that’s shown any public interest is Skulsky himself and a consortium of “Waterboys” from the local business community. Could there be someone else? Possibly, but no one with really deep pockets seems to have any association with the club.

The logical name for me is David Sidoo, a local philanthropist and one-time Lion and Rider, but he’s heavily involved in the UBC Thunderbirds football program. I am not sure whether owning the Lions is of interest.

http://davidsidoo.com/
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Remember how 3 groups were interested in buying the Argos :lol:

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Barley should have allot less trouble selling the Lions compared to the Argos.

At least the Lions are not getting evicted from the stadium so a new lease doesn't need to ne worked out.

To me it comes down to how much Braley wants compared to what the market is willing to pay.

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There. Fixed it for ya! :wink:

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[b]At least the Lions are not getting evicted from the stadium[/b] so a new lease doesn't need to ne worked out.
Although Mighty I have the feeling that being "evicted" from the stadium is exactly what Larry Tanenbaum and Bell wanted as well as John Tory. In fact I'm sure that was the case without a doubt. Without such eviction, no one would have been interested in buying the Argos staying at the Blue Jays stadium that people see as almost 100 percent as a baseball only facility as it's turned out.

Having the Argos at BMO makes the renos at BMO make that much more sense, more dates for the stadium etc. And as a city owned facility, if I’m the Mayor that’s what I’d love to see. The city made little if any money I’m sure with the Argos playing at the Rogers Centre with the RC being a privately owned facility. There is a reason why Rogers was stalling, they did not want to see the Argos go to BMO for obvious reasons but they couldn’t prevent it. Blue Jays fans wanted the Argos out to make it more baseball, they want grass in there and Rogers has to cater to their bread and butter, their Blue Jays fans and they were hoping no one would be interested in the Argos since they thought the soccer fans could yell and whine enough to prevent the Argos from moving to BMO. Wrong.

At any rate, all the best to David Braley and his health. While his business behaviour and philanthropy is questioned by many, in Hamilton when you mention his name you will surely get some smirks from many here (experienced this first hand from some health care people here I can tell you), as a fellow Canadian with a huge interest in Canadian football, I want nothing but the best for him for his future years.

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League will give Grey Cups to the buyer of the Lions and the team will be paid for.

The new owners will own a great sports franchise in a beautiful city with a first class domed stadium that is also making money. They, the new owners will hook onto so many positive things about the CFL these days. A couple of GC's in a 5-8 yr period and that should be about $10 million + profit from each one. I don't think they will have too much to worry about not finding a new owner. David needs to take care of his asset now or sell it. That is how he can help the league.

I hope he gets well soon as he is definitely a "Builder" of the CFL. He was there when we needed him the most.

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I wonder if Western based Shaw would be interested in the BC Lions. They could recoup all of their investment and join the other 2 Bell and Rogers as sports team owners. Could also bid on part of the CFL television deal.

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He has been the saviour of the CFL for years but it is time for a change. Let's hope the next owner is a good one.

Thank you, Mr. Braley.

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Ugh somebody didn’t bring the right helmets for the home BC uniforms . The colours are off and it is distracting to watch tonight . Sometimes it feels that in the CFL things like this are done on purpose . Thankfully it’s preseason and the bugs can be worked out .

Maybe selling it sooner is wise as quality control is off .

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This is what happens when you pander to millennials. A young guy designed them to attract younger fans. :oops:

Not sure why they brought their away helmets and paired them with the home uniforms, but why does this (dis)organization use 2 different orange pantones anyway? In fact, if you go to their website, their apparel shows multiple orange hues. Looks very bush.

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I really hope the new owner is Canadian.

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Yes and doesn’t involve Dennis Skulsky.

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Denis Skulsky is more of an idiot than Braley.
The actual number of potential Lions owners is 19. Dare me to reference it before looking it up yourself.