How much rent do CFL teams pay?

CFL Talk
1

Does anyone know how much annual rent each team pays to play in their respective stadiums?

2

It would take way too much time I would think to look all that information for each team up, but here’s a great site someone posted on here that I track at times to see what kind of deals teams try to work with municipalities usually it seems all too often in vain or with massive corruption on the backs of the public as usual:

http://fieldofschemes.com/

I bet much of such data can be found on its archives.

Note in this past week I posted a link to the article with figures for San Diego in this regard in the “Football: Other Leagues” section. San Diego has an analogous situation involving a public subsidy that goes way too far such as Indianapolis as well:

[url=http://forums.cfl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=55379#p893911]viewtopic.php?f=15&t=55379#p893911[/url]
3

The Bombers don’t actually pay rent on Canad Inns Stadium. They manage the facility in exchange for concessions, parking and for money earned from non-Bomber events (like concerts) but they also have to spend about $1 million every season on stadium maintenance.

4

I believe the Argos are rent-free at SkyDome (refuse to call it its current name) but dont get anything from concessions. At least as far as I know

5

I can’t say about their current deal but the lease they signed that just ended wasn’t rent free. I found this from a 2005 story at TSN.ca cached by Google:

The Toronto Argonauts opted to stay at their downtown home Monday, saying an improved lease at the Rogers Centre trumped the proposed new stadium at York University.

The deal is not rent-free but gives the CFL team improved scheduling, cost certainty and a piece of the action, from parking to concessions.

6

I didnt know that, thanks for the info

7

The Alouettes pay 1 million per year at Molson Stadium.
I guess it differs around the league, but I think Calgary is about that too.

8

when is it gonna take some forward thinking owner with common sense to finally build a privately financed stadium in which they control all costs and dont pay red cent in rent? wake up cfl board of governors. HOLLA!

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Re: How much rent do CFL teams pay?

Postby weezy97 » Sun May 23, 2010 8:31 pm
when is it gonna take some forward thinking owner with common sense to finally build a privately financed stadium in which they control all costs and dont pay red cent in rent? wake up cfl board of governors. HOLLA!

weezy97

I don't think that any owner will finally build a privately financed stadium because in the CFL the numbers just don't add up. Most teams have a hard time turning a profit with the $1 million or less rent they currently pay. If an owner builds a brand new $150 million stadium and finances the stadium at only 5% for 20 years (he would be assuming the CFL will still be around in 2030) then his annual interest plus principal would run $12.3 million per year. That is a lot higher than his current $1 million or less. The new stadium would bring extra revenue and that has to be considered in to the equation. If the team is currently in a 30,000 seat stadium and they upgrade to a 35,000 seat stadium that would mean 5,000 extra
seats (assuming all sellouts)x $50 per ticket x 10 games or $2.5million. If you add in 40 luxury suites at $75,000 per year that would bring in another $3.0 million. You can sell naming rights for about $2.7 million per year ($27 million over 10 years is what BMO paid to rename the National Soccer Stadium). So far you have brought in $8.2 million in new revenue but you are no way near covering your $12.3 million mortgage. True you will probably sell more merchandise and concessions but $4.1 million is a lot to make up. Don't forget that as the owner you are now responsible for maintenance, repairs, operating costs and etc. which will run well over $1.5 million per year. So now you are $5.6 million short and you need to find some way to make that up every year for 20 years. Throwing 2-3 outdoor concerts each year would help the bottom line and renting out the stadium for various events will also bring in some revenue, but it would be a major challenge to raise enough revenue every year to cover your $12.3 million mortgage. Many owners of CFL teams are very successful businessmen. If building a privately financed stadium was a potential profit center, they would be all over it. Instead a private stadium is nothing more than a money pit and none of these owners will touch one without some sort of government funding or partnership.

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WVCFLFan is right about privately owned CFL stadiums not being economically viable. Annual costs of ownership exceed potential revenue. There is a example In the NHL. In the past, the Griffins family owned the Vancouver Canucks for decades. One day, Arthur Griffins build General Motors Place and moved the team out of profitable Pacific Coliseum. After a few years, Arthur could no longer afford the new stadium and was forced to sell his team. Obviously, he badly miscalculated. White elephants need rich enough owners who don't mind negative cash flow.

11

Right on thirdperson with that uncommon example. :thup:

Such a discussion of public subsidy is nothing new to pro sports anywhere, as by default for a venue open to the general public with tickets so it is a public discussion at the very least no to mention all the logistics behind the scenes that most fans don’t think about at all for planning for parking, law enforcement, emergency services, security, traffic flow, et cetera.

Only the most affluent teams in each league of whatever sport can afford to foot most of the bill, but then again they have the most leverage with the local government because often they contribute disproportionately more to those communities directly and indirectly not just with tax revenue and various government fees.

There is no getting away from the debate in every town on just how much the public will foot the bill, with the owners in many cases holding the cards to just move the team to a town offering a better deal as as been used by the Irsays in Indianapolis and is being used by Bob Young and soon enough possibly the franchises in Atlanta, San Francisco, and San Diego.

[url=http://www.fieldofschemes.com]www.fieldofschemes.com[/url] is a great site for a reality check here for those who think such a luxury as we enjoy as organised and [u]consistently substantially uncorrupted[/u] sports, largely in the US, Canada, UK, Northern Europe, and Australia, can be afforded in most cases by just the private sector.
12

The Griffins owned GM Place and the Canucks? Was Cleveland, Joe, and Quagmire (giggidy) also on the payroll? :lol: :lol:

Maybe they knew the Griffiths family who also owned the Canucks & GM Place