OMG!!! The Green + White are in the RED!!!

What has the world come to!
The Riders lost $4.3M last season!!

[url=http://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/riders-announce-4-3-million-loss?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter]http://leaderpost.com/sports/football/c ... um=twitter[/url]

A dismal 2015 season contributed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders posting a loss of $4.3 million for the 2015-16 fiscal year

Too many "under the table" payouts to players, coaches etc. That bites! Oh, Riders didn't win Lord Grey's mug either. 8)

the Riders would not have been in a deficit situation if not for the amortization of the 2013 Grey Cup Legacy Fund. A total of $15 million was spent on renovations to Mosaic Stadium in 2012 to cover the installation of end-zone seats, luxury boxes and two new video boards leading up to the 2013 Grey Cup game, which was won by the Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium.

According to the mailout, removing the amortization of the Grey Cup Legacy Fund meant the Riders actually had a profit of $873,000. For accounting purposes, the four-year amortization of the Grey Cup Legacy Fund is to be completed this year.

Correct, it is a negative cashflow thing, not a negative cash thing. It will likely be similar for 2015 when there are a pile more assets meeting full appreciation. The legacy Project was 5.1 mil off the books for last season, and they also put the full funds owing to Chamblin and Taman on the books as well, so around 1.4 mil instead of around 700k. Still, very unfortunate that they are only getting a few seasons use out of the Legacy additions of seating, the boxes, the new PA, the new LED boards and screens, etc…doesn’t sound like even the LED screens will be re-used…but it is pretty nice equipment that facilities will love when they receive them at least.

This amortization was something laid out a few years ago, and 2015 is going to be much worse. Of course they will have all sorts of new stuff to depreciate, but it is still a massive price tag. 16.1mil is popping into mind as a number I heard for 2015, but I could be mistaken…it was some time ago I read on it.

None the less, profits were down. Gate revenue was up I believe 700k (might have been more…don’t recall at the moment), and merch was way down…merch was the people’s voice and Reynolds indicated mid-season that this message was being heard…that was prior to axing.

Regardless of team performance, with the Jones regime and the new Adidas casual wear being promoted, I’d say merchandise sales should improve significantly this year. I think they will across the league as well seeing how well they are being promoted and they don’t seem too offensive (the gear not the ads) :slight_smile:

And then there’ll be the Mosaic farewell to increase attendance plus maybe positioning for seats in the new stadium.

For sure. I would say the “Farewell Season” merch is going to bring in pretty big numbers in itself. They are marketing it to no end.

I would think that IF the riders can be at 500 midway that there will be a little bitterness set aside by a lot of people (and there is lots) and we will see new jersey sales and such as well. Capi and Roosevelt might be some of the more popular new sales.

ongoing expenses Taman and Chamblin will also be on the payroll for this season and 2017 as well...

[b]CFL News ?@CFL_News
For accounting purposes, #Riders remaining obligations to Taman and Chamblin were included in the 2015-16 annual report. - @leaderpost #CFL

CFL News ?@CFL_News
#Riders are still on the hook for the salaries of Chamblin and Taman through the 2017 season. - @murraylp #CFL[/b]

Yes, but they are on the books for last year. They were fully incorporated into the 2015 numbers, even if they are not yet paid out. They will not effect next year’s cashflow…I mentioned it before.

If this team loses money, there is no hope for the League. The SRR could cut their costs in half if they put their minds to it.

Has nothing to do with the other teams. Every other team made money with revenues of 25 million or less. Riders are playing by their own rules and managed terribly. This is also a perfect example why players will keep getting skrewed till they strike. Because teams will always show little to no profit if they can help it.

Guess you don’t understand depreciation of assets. This number is going to potentially be 4 times worse for this year depending on exactly how and when the facility moves hit ledgers. This was forecasted a few years back when they structured the ledger on the new assets and it was made public. Take the assets off the books and they turned a profit. Essentially their Legacy Project assets went down in value 5.1 million last year (and will again in 2016), which hits cashflow, not cash. Big difference. they didn’t actually lose money. A simplified and not totally accurate way of looking at it is that their book value dropped because they have to depreciate their assets over life expectancy. Life expectancy of the Legacy Project assets ends this year. It is taking a 5.1 mil worth of assets off the books this year and next, and that is a negative cashflow…not necessarily negative cash. If they were staying in the stadium another decade it would have only been about a million in amortization last year…not 5.

As far as the expenditures on an annual basis…yes…they spend more…but part of that is their merchandising, which only them and perhaps one other team do…all others go through the league’s system…so they have a considerable expense there, but it sure seems to pay off.

There is NOOO WAY Sask was it debt that much. No way. Double it and your much closer to under the table deals.
Player residences paid, coach pay outs, bad moves again!

This is basic accounting. Read.

While you’re mostly bang on, I think your use of “cash flow” is confusing here. A normal measurement of cash flow doesn’t include depreciation as a negative. These writeoffs are affecting net income, but unless they’re writing cheques now to deal with it, it’s not affecting cash flow.

It’s not uncommon in a situation like this where an asset meant for long term use is suddenly worthless for net income to look bad, but if it was already paid for, cash flow should be fine.

I don't think it's really all that surprising to be honest. The biggest surprise to me was that gate revenue was up with a 3 win team. There's probably going to be a lot of expenses this year and next as well in order to move into the new stadium. I would imagine the gate revenue will take a pretty big jump as well with a lot more revenue opportunity in the new stadium with way more suites and boxes.

Yeah…just trying to oversimplify it…that in turn does not make it totally accurate, but does make it a tolerable read for some and give a bit of a better picture. The technicalities are barely tolerable for people who have a grasp on it lol

Fair enough. For the record I agree with everything else you said. :slight_smile:

See folks only the Riders depreciate assets. Only the Riders operate a chain of stores for 12 million (must be like a chain of home depot) a year and only the Riders pay 1.5 million in severance. 18 million more cost than the next closest CFL team. Fine management...

This is all a pile of shit...
The Riders lawyers/accountants could have lyed to make it look like they only earned 5 million and we would have all rolled our eyes,but to lie to this extent is laughable.
The CRA should immediately freeze all assets of this team until things are figured out. People are obviously frauding this community organization, that is literally run like a charity. That's why the team is able to hold lotteries and keep the proceeds.
People need to go to jail.

Go to jail for… what, exactly? Do you know anything about how accounting works? The value of assets is amortized over their lifespan, and because of the stadium move, a bunch of assets at Taylor Field now have a much shorter lifespan.

Making poor decisions on hiring GMs and giving them guaranteed contracts isn’t a crime. If it was, the Bombers would have been shut down as a criminal racket decades ago. :cowboy: