Glieberman looking for new investors to aid Gades

CFL Talk
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[url=http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/Football/2006/03/17/1491948-sun.html]http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/Footbal ... 8-sun.html[/url]

CFL GOVERNORS are talking about Bernie Glieberman's exit as owner of the Ottawa Renegades not as a matter of if, but when.

And if Glieberman is to walk away from ownership of the team, governors would be left to decide-- in concert with the league -- the future of the franchise.

One source told the Sun yesterday a scenario being discussed among governors is a partnership with Glieberman for the coming season, in which the owner would cover the bulk of the team's losses, with each team pitching in to keep it going.

In the meantime, a search for new ownership would take place.

But some governors are also discussing a bleaker plan in which the club would have its operations suspended for the 2006 campaign and revived for the following season should a new owner be found.

It's believed Glieberman, who did not return calls from the Sun yesterday, wants to do what he can to keep the team alive in Ottawa, but not at any cost.

$5 MILLION IN LOSSES

It has been estimated the Renegades could lose at least $5 million during the 2006 season.

Sources say Glieberman has spoken to people about buying into the Renegades.

One person contacted is Glenn Straub of Wellington, Fla., a real estate developer and entrepreneur, but it's unlikely he would be interested.

The owner of the Palm Beach Polo & Country Club bought the Miami Arena in an auction for a reported $28 million US two years ago.

Straub was at his office in Florida yesterday, but did not speak directly to the Sun.

Through an e-mail from an assistant, Straub indicated he knows Glieberman and his son, Lonie, and that "they are respected businessmen."

Two years ago in a Florida publication, Straub said he bought a Florida business, Broward Yachts, "because it was there and unique and we buy things that need to be turned around."

That scenario could certainly be applied to the situation with the Renegades.

The team's ongoing saga took another turn earlier this week when word leaked that Glieberman was considering walking away from the club.

Earlier this month, Lonie Glieberman stepped aside as the team's business leader.

With few tickets being sold and little activity in corporate sales, Glieberman has been writing cheques to keep the team operating.

Meanwhile, minority owner Bill Smith, one of the club's founders, is hedging on his involvement with the team and has not given Glieberman an indication he would help shoulder the losses.

Smith did not returns calls from the Sun yesterday.

All the uncertainty is gaining attention from Renegades players.

Quarterback Kerry Joseph spoke of being discouraged after learning about the latest situation. Linebacker Jason Kralt, an original Renegade and Ottawa native, said he received several calls from teammates wondering what's going on.

PLAYERS 'WORRIED'

"Guys are worried. They're wondering if there's going to be a dispersal draft, if there's going to be local ownership," he said. "They've got a whole bunch of questions that deserve answers because their careers are in a state of flux."

Joseph, speaking from Orlando, Fla., said he's hoping the problems are solved.

"But it's disheartening because guys have signed contracts with the trust and belief that there'd be football in Ottawa. You think of family and livelihood right now because we don't know what the future's going to hold."

Meanwhile, the club is on the verge of a deal to hold training camp at Carleton University.

Players would stay at residences and have meals on campus, with practices being held at various Ottawa and Gatineau fields, including many sessions at Frank Clair Stadium. Camp is scheduled to begin May 21.

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hope they can find someone to fix that mess. OTTAWA MUST WORK!!!!!!

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For a public relations purpose, I'd recommend Glieberman and Smith to stop repeating all the time how big and unbearable the annual losses of the Renagades are...

The losses are about as big as the amount needed to buy the team... Who in its right mind would want to buy something that has a ROI of -100% annually...

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i hope someone in QC is interested....double the odds of saving the franchise.

hope number one, is sens owner buys....if not, i hope a quebec businessman buys and moves them to QC....better than folding.

closes the large gap between montreal and the future halifax huskees.

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Is the Halifax did get named the huskies, They should use a new logo. That one looks plain compared to the others.

But I agree. Moving the Renegades is better than folding them.

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.........I agree 3rd, for such an 'astute' and 'professional' businessman Bernie sure doesn't come across as one........his constant reminding of how bad his situation is prompts one to ask "well,why did you allow it to come to this?".....and asking for the league to have to step in to settle a function of the business deal between him and Mr. Smith seems bizarre.....shouldn't this be something the two of them sit down to resolve, why does TW have to referee who absorbs the financial loss this year?........unless there is some legal aspect of the Gleib contract that says he can walk away I'd say the CFL lawyers prepare a suit of their own aimed directly at the Gleib holdings for defamation of trademark and mismanagement of a league franchise.....

Bernies Used Cars

Bernie: "This thing is a piece of crap and I think I'll have it towed to the dump, I'm sick of it sitting on my lot"

Prospective Buyer: "Why? Whats wrong with it?"

Bernie: "Oh, um, er, nothing in fact. Would you like to buy it?"

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I don't think Quebec City is a good option, Halifax is but Quebec scares me because of the bottom post from newbie33:

"For all you posters who want to move the team in Quebec City read my previous post on why it won't work in Quebec City. I am from there. My mother has season tickets to the university team. 8 000 of the 10 000 fans at the Laval games are university students that pay 5 dollars to get in. They have only 4 home games for a grand total of a $20 for the season. Only half of the people are paying attention to the game the others are cruising the beautiful women. They couldn't even get their gouvernment to build them a rink for the beloved Nordiques. Do you think the will get some for a football stadium? The mayor is on record to say she will not spend a dime on stadiums, arenas or baseball stadiums. And the only person remotely willing to get an ownership group together for expension talks is Marcel Aubut the man who moved the Nordiques and sold off the Expos. He is a Francophone Glieberman... :?"

If that is the case do you think a CFL team will fly there when tickets are $15-$50 a game?

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thats because those are university games…ofcourse they will draw 90% of its crowd from the university students…thats to be expected…thats who the team represents.

a CFL team at the same stadium would draw football fans from the city to cheer a team representing the city, not just a school. when the Als moved to molsons stadium, it wasnt just mcgill redmen fans who showed up, was it?!

quebec city is bigger than regina and hamilton, and is the SAME SIZE as Winnipeg…and isnt far off from the size of calgary…what makes people think without the university students noone would show up?

a few years ago PEPS satdium drew a crowd of over 18K for an CFL PRE-SEASON ( Als vs Gades ) game in the RAIN…thats about what the Gades draw for reg.season games.

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That's a good point, the city is a fair size but do they have a big enough stadium in place?

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quebec-city has a football stadium that is almost the exact same as the current molsons stadium in montreal....both are 20K stadiums.
( currently the Gades play for 18K fans charging a pathetic $10 per game, where QC could sell 20K at average of $100 each, like the Als do )

the Als saw thier popularity rise when they moved to a small venue, and now they are so popular, they are expanding to 25K seats....if the Gades move to QC, PEPS stadium can hold 20K until they build thier fan base and then, they too, can expand to 25-30K...and they can play labour-day games infront of 60K at the Big O in montreal and split the profits.

PEPS stadium:

Montreal's Molson stadium:

725×144 29 KB

as u can see, the two stadiums are currently very similar in size.

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http://www.answers.com/topic/canadian-football-league

The league is currently looking to add a tenth team in Atlantic Canada or Quebec City, although the current mayor of Quebec City Andrée Boucher is against using city money to build a CFL stadium. Quebec City and Halifax have recently hosted CFL exhibition games, both of which sold out quickly. Halifax will host another exhibition game in 2006.

it says shes against BUILDING a NEW stadium...but if the QC team consistantly draws sell-outs, im sure they could convince her to put some money to EXPAND peps...its alot cheeper than building a new stadium from scratch. and the money used to expand comes mostly from provincial and federal governments, with quebec-city manicipality putting in the least amount. ( following montreals expansion funding example )

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There is alot more room to expand PEPS then the McGill stadium which will be expanded.

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[url=http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/06/20/Sports/alouettes050620.html]http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national ... 50620.html[/url]

i was readin that its costing $27 million to expand molsons....the Als are raising $4 million from thier sponsors...leaving $23 million being split by the feds, the province of quebec and the city of montreal at about $7 million each.

if all 9 teams in the league split the $4 million the quebec-based team would need to front, it works out to $450K each team....or they could get the league sponsors to help with that $4million cost.

so if quebec-city manicipal government agrees to a similar expansion for PEPS, they get $27 million worth of expansion while only paying for $7 million themselves.

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And you know how the Federal government is with subsidizing anything in Quebec with our tax dollars.
It does make all kind of sense to expand the stadium with virtually free money and in time for the 07 season perhaps.

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maybe ottawa should never have gotten a 2nd team to begin with?

lysko shoulda expanded to quebec-city in the first place, and this mess wouldnt be happening right now...

instead we'd have a healthy 9 team league, on the verge of expanding both montreal and quebec's stadiums, and we'd be looking to expand to halifax.

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In hindsight, without a local owner the league should not have returned to Ottawa. But, we have to remember the city was willing and had a beautiful stadium in waiting. More, of course then QC or Halifax. I still think a lot of good can come from this mess. Either solidifying the team or move to QC.

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keep those fingers crossed, that the Gades can turn things around with glieb as an owner, OR sens owner buys the team.

after those options, hope a QC owners buys and the team moves after this '06 season.

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[/quote]
If I remember correctly, the Quebec City exhibition game had a crowd of around 10 400. I'm also sure that the game wasn't played in the rain. It would be interesting to see how many people would show up for an exhibition game that didn't feature Montreal. That being said, I still believe Quebec City could be a solid CFL city.

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Any exhibition game in QC that doesn't feature Montreal would give a poor reading. Any city would have the same result (Like if Ivor Wynne hosted an exhibition game between Calgary and Saskatchewan, I know I wouldn't pay to see it.)

Remember that, if QC had a team, every game there would include their own team. The closest thing there to a "home" team right now is the Alouettes. Unfortunately, this would draw a number of fans from Montreal who would not buy QC season tickets, so the attendance at these games would be a bit bloated.

So I guess we could expect attendance in QC to be somewhere between that of an exhibition game that includes the Alouettes, and one that doesn't.

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