The Argos will eventually get BMO field converted for them. As per the agreement that NLSE has with the city is not totally clear, for MLSE to go ahead with any reno's the end line will include expanding to CFL dimensions. I think however it will be among the last things to get done if not the very last thing. So at earliest 2017 at latest 2018.
As for ownership the Rogers and Bell partnership personal agenda's will begin to come into play. MLSE by all means should buy the Argos and if Rogers was smart they would agree and create some good will in which they have an entire league of fans who hate them.
Flying under the radar for now is what Rogers is doing with the Broadcasts of TFC. Bell and Rogers networks basically split all MLSE TV for all sports. However Rogers has placed some TFC games are the lower Sportsnet360. But that may become or may not becomea bigger issue in the future.
It could be thatRogers will need to get something out of it before they agree to an Argos purchase which could mean a Grey Cup and Rogers Centre secured in 2016-1018 one of those years. MLSE would have to pay Rogers for the use of RC so Rogers is basically paying themselves. Having the Cup at RC Also fives Rogers free adveretisement on a National scale in which sponsors will have to pay for their name associate with the GC. Rogers will be getting paid andn have their Name Rogers Centre headlining all Grey cup adertising.
If Rogers just flat out refuses to OK this Bell is going to have to step in. With TSN pretty much cleaning up from advertisers the last TV deal their parent company Bell has pretty much stayed out of any high profile sponsorship so far. For the better of the CFL product Bell Cannot afford to take a chance on not having a team in Toronto
I think anyone who thinks that the Argos are going to attract more fans in Hamilton then in or near Toronto has never actually been to Toronto or Hamilton for any extender period of time. When you leave the Hamilton GO station for an Argo game, everyone is decked out in black and gold, you bus it to Aldershot and it’s more Black and Gold colors getting onto the train. From there it slowly becomes more and more double blue at stops, starting from maybe one or two Argos at Appleby/Burlington and a load full of them around Port Credit/Long Branch. The further East you go in the GTA the fewer Argo fans there are.
So even if we conclude, somehow that the Eastern portion of the GTA (of which the closer portion amounts to Oakville, Missisauga and maybe a small part of Etobicoke) will be more inclined to go to games at THF, you would experience major losses your entire city core and highly inconveniencing your entire western GTA market in Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa and Northern GTA market in Vaughn, Richmond Hill, Markham Brampton and Woodbridge. Your losses would vastly outweigh ANY gains made. Also, how exactly do you attract new fans to the Argos given that Hamilton market has been serviced by the Ti-Cats or their component teams for nearly 150 years? Also…assuming you did (which I just don’t see how you could) how exactly do you intend to do so without splitting the Hamilton fanbase?
cflsteve wrote:
If Rogers just flat out refuses to OK this Bell is going to have to step in. With TSN pretty much cleaning up from advertisers the last TV deal their parent company Bell has pretty much stayed out of any high profile sponsorship so far. For the better of the CFL product Bell Cannot afford to take a chance on not having a team in Toronto
Interesting steve, agree, no team in Toronto is risky even though I and others have come across that it really may not matter, but probably does.
It is a situation where on paper it may look like no problem but perception is not having a team in the biggest city would leave no CFL fans in the GTA. There are fans there, getting them to games is another story.
An independetly owned team in Toronto will not make any money but being part of a bigger whole would/should change that.
Even if Bell would create a situation like they have in Vancouver with the Whitecaps. The Caps have some billionaire partners that have major holdings in sports franchises the Caps are not connected to them. Bell brings them the connection to market the club via their TSN Networks now.
Braley owns the Argos and can afford the loses but Bell would be able to promote them properly forthe best interest for TSN
I think that david braley will own the team for this year with the argos hitting record lows in attendance and getting no media attention covering the argos through out the year thanks in large part to braley being the absentee owner to the team. In the off season i could see the team being sold to an individual or group with ml$e having a 25% chance of owning them.see no chance of argos playing anywhere but bmo field in the future where in 2016 will be first year the argos will play there homes games at. I just hope that the new owner to the argos will have lots of energy and want to work long and hard to make the argos relevant in the city again because after the last few years of the current guys trying there best to run the team to the ground will be a lot to overcome for any new owner to the argos.
Ijust say come on Bell buy the Argos and tie it in to multi media outlets in and out of Torontothat are already set up would be of very little cost. Bell would not need to make $1 on the Argos and would only need to break even and have them fininacially secure and tie them into a bigger whole of Bell Media and TSN.
My view as well.
Since Bell has a vested interest in the CFL, now being the #1 property on TSN, why not build a stadium as well in Markham or anywhere in the GTA.
Considering there are no interested buyers for the Argos (including MLSE), Braley is stuck with the team for the foreseeable future, which is sad when you think about it. The BC Lions have north of 7 groups or individuals that are interested in buying the team and the Argos can't even get one to even say that they're interested.
Considering there are no interested buyers for the Argos (including MLSE), Braley is stuck with the team for the foreseeable future, which is sad when you think about it. The BC Lions have north of 7 groups or individuals that are interested in buying the team and the Argos can't even get one to even say that they're interested.
I think that YOU haven’t been to Toronto or Hamilton for an extended period of time if you think that the Eastern portion of the GTA is Oakville/Mississauga/Etobicoke and the western portion of the GTA is Pickering/Ajax/Whitby/Oshawa. :roll:
Try turning your map right side up from upside down.
bomber, it's realistic, not so much emotional sad, the Argos right now are getting booted out of the stadium they've been playing in and have no deal to play in another stadium and there aren't many others available in Toronto last time I checked.
Difficult to find owners in this scenario I would say. The BC Lions play in a state of the art football first stadium. Huge difference.
The Lions do not have 7 interested would be owners. It's a great p.r move by Brailey and it's not like the Lions pack them in , they get decent crowds, should be better with such a solid team they have year after year. Hopefully after the negotiations are settled, BMO comes back in to play for the Argo's .
I would venture to guess that 7 is padding the stats a bit. It has been talked about that the Canucks S&E have been intersted in the Lions which would be best for everyone I would think. Braley have a Grey cup in 2011 and now 2014 in BC certainly keeping the Lions for sure.
The Flames buying majority interest in the stamps and the Canucks with the Lions to go with three community owned teams gives a very strong West CFL financially and visibily marketing themas well
The Argos playing in Hamilton is a terrible idea. It is nothing like the Giants and Jets. Hamiton has its own fan base completley different from the Argos.
A stadium to the North of Toronto if need be built in a GTA region is where you would have Argo fans.
A couple of years ago when Hamilton was still looking at a new stadium site, Aldershot was considered. Aldershot is on the edge of Hamilton and Burlington, on the main Via/GO rail line, it’s also close to where some of the busiest highways in Ontario intersect the QEW/403/407, plenty of space to put in a huge parking lot too. If there was ever going to be a joint Ticat/Argo stadium somewhere that would be the place.
