just reread a saved email from early April of 2012 from Christina Saint Marche, an entrepreneur who was in partnership with Marc Bellemare, a Quebec Lawyer/businessman/politico in order to bring a CFL franchise to Quebec City.
Among the interesting particulars she mentioned in the email were:
that Laval Rouge et Or being essentially privately owned/operated, were combative with their quest no matter how much money was to be privately invested in PEPS Stadium to upgrade to CFL standards.
suggests the facility is kept willfully under CFL requirements to keep out a pro team completely.
her partner is a savvy businessman and passionate CFL fan with numerous contacts who had alternatives to PEPS. (although did not elaborate what these alternatives were)
Bellemare will make another attempt in 2017 or 2018 with other willing partners/investors.
believes a team will be placed in QC within ten years and be highly successful although will not be involved due to other business obligations.
Hopefully Marc Bellemare can succeed in procuring a franchise/stadium, especially if Halifax continues to drag their heels.
I would consider most of that inaccurate or unreliable as it has been 2.5 years. I am sure if anyone has any interest, they will wait to see how Ottawa unfolds, much like Naylor stated at the beginning of the season regarding potential investors out east.
Hopefully Ottawa is a huge success, but support won't last forever beyond this year if the w/l record doesn't show some improvement. I think if after 2-3 years, they are successful, that is evidence the Ottawa model works.
The kicker though might be all the legal troubles. It was a 5-6 year process to get Ottawa figured out. Would the NIMBY's be any different anywhere else?
I would love a 10th team, and despite perhaps some odd schedules an 11th would be amazing. So much more variety.
Not happening ........ zero interest ,zero owners stepping up and it's all Nordiques. The Als can't draw 20k against the best team in the CFL , I'd worry about that !
Sure :lol: My tickets in C1 were $72.00 the equivalent seat in Winnipeg is P6 at $36.45 (Those are sideline seats facing the end zone similar seats in Ottawa two days later were $45.00 and they threw in free parking, where the Als charged me 23.00.
I know I sat in them.
And that is just one example.
If you want the cheapest seats there is 3 small end zone sections at 35 bucks the Winnipeg equivalent is P7 at 27.50
Good lower bowl tickets Montreal $121.74 Winnipeg 86.00
Als tickets depending on where you sit are anywhere from 20 to 50 percent more than the CFL average.
It does when running a business, if your expenses exceed your revenues it’s not the best. This is where the TSN money helps a bit . It’s a shame that both Toronto and Montreal had soccer stadiums built and the Argo’s and Als were ignored. Would have been a perfect situation in both cities . Especially with the lack of interest in in the msl , ratings are awful and attendance is nothing spectacular.
In Toronto is far more a shame, as the city put up most of the cash and they are the owners. MLSE just owns the management rights. In Montreal, the Saputo’s built and own the stadium explicitly for the Impact, so there’s never been a remote expectation of the Al’s playing there.
But your initial claim was that we should be worried about only drawing 19k based on raw attendance numbers alone. Als tickets are not cheap. The Wetenhalls aren’t giving those tickets away and throwing in freebies just to get fans to attend. So on its own, the revenue claim doesn’t hold up. Operating expenses may exceed revenues, but that’s a separate issue from how much gate revenue a team generates.
Even if expenses include lavish salaries for your sons and Condos in old Montreal and a whole bunch of people sitting at home on lavish contracts they have not earned…
Saputo paid every dime of his stadium. I think he got a friendly lease on the grounds but the entire construction was financed by him.
Where the Als got screwed is that part of the deal involved the practice field which the Als had quietly been using for FREE for a decade.
All owners cry poor. If they came out and said that they made money guess what would happen:
fans would want cheaper ticket and beer prices
players would want more money
government would charge more for stadium rent etc.
With the exception of Toronto I think that every owner of the CFL teams has had a net financial benefit to owning their teams either through the teams themselves making money or through synergies with other business ventures (think Bob Young and MRX). Wettenhall has owned Montreal for over 14 years and Bob Young has owned the Cats for 11 years and I have no doubt in my mind that over this time period (not in any specific year) that they have benefited financially through this ownership. If that weren’t the case then why would they not sell?
Nobody is lining up to buy CFL teams. You are delusional if you think Bob Young hasn’t lost MILLIONS. It,s just how much :roll: Please provide a link showing every team but Toronto made money ?you can’t make the claim the owners are lying with no proof !
What is the attendance break even point, ? 23000? I m sure the Ticats have averaged that number over the last 11 seasons, however, multi H.C. guaranteed salaries, and the last two season probably pushed the team into the red, IMO canning Scott Mitchel would have saved MR Young some profitable seasons.
