[b]According to a report in the Hamilton Spectator, David Braley plans to sell both the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts by 2016.The report stated the 72-year-old Ontario Senator told supporters at a Progressive Conservative fundraiser in Hamilton that he will sell his two CFL franchises by the time he is 75.
Braley said he has seven people interested in buying the Lions and three people interested in the Argonauts. Selling the financially stable Lions will be easy but it could be a different story with the Argos, with the team still losing money.
Braley anticipates the Argos will eventually make money once a new stadium is secured for the franchise. He said three communities are looking at land for the new stadium and a location, as well as the finances to secure the new stadium, should be completed within a year.
Both the provincial and federal governments are expected to help finance a new stadium.
http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=432325[/b]
well, that's fine. everyone at some point has to sell.. not like they live forever.
at least he's giving 3 seasons for the sale to be done.
i hope he picks the right location for the new stadium ( mississauga or toronto ).
Mississauga would be my preference living in Hamilton but just a personal preference only.
He said three communities are interested in building a new stadium with the help of the Provincial and Federal governments.
That's too bad that taxpayers have to fund it.
He never mentioned the BMO Field so that may be a dead issue along with MLSE.
Most stadiums and arenas in NA are wholly or partly funded with taxpayer dollars as the city usually owns it and these are used by the communities in many cases for high school and amateur sports.
David Braley gone after two years has to be a good thing for the cfl going forward! I know that a lot of people like to talk how Braley is the saviour to the cfl. But this guy has really done nothing for the two markets in b.c and toronto as far as growing the sport with the people in the city. One good thing he did was pay the bills and that is about it that he did well with the teams. Never bothered to put any money behind the teams for marketing or developing the sport of football. It looks like to me that he wants to do a hit and run with these teams, try to hold as many grey cups and earn as much money as possible. Braley was never in it for the long term which both of these teams need.
We can't forget also about the disaster of a job Braley did with the tiger cats in owning them in 88-91. This guy just doesn't realize the concept of needing to spend money to make money!
Hey Troll. What money do you think BMO and Skydome were built ? Or any other stadium in the Country.
I guess he shouldn't be considered as worthy of builder status in the CFHFM. :roll:
Builder? Technically, no. But he did enough maintenance to prevent the place from being condemned, so that should be worth something.
exactly.
ALL stadiums are subsidized by government agencies.
and BMO was built from the public purse exclusively for TFC, thus the Argos should be given equal due in a new stadium. (or at the very least in a shared reconfigged BMO)
nonetheless, the article states that the P&F governments are expected to “help finance a new stadium”, not necessarily the entire amount.
It will be great to have some new owners with renewed enthusiasm in both those markets. And a new stadium for the Argos will be awesome! I'll be there for the first game.
I have a hard time believing the Feds will give anything. The optics would be pretty bad following denials of assistance for Sask’s stadium and Edmonton’s & Quebec City’s arenas.
I see your point about the Feds although there is a substantial difference between kicking in funds for the construction of arenas tabbed to cost between $500-600 million dollars, and a football stadium at $150 million or a BMO reconfig at perhaps $50-75 mil.
Even the new Regina stadium has a price tag of near $300 million which may have been a cause for the trepidation with the Feds.
So now you are calling me a troll? You don’t read too well do you…lol
I never said that BMO or the Skydome or any other stadium was NOT funded with taxpayers money!! I said “TOO BAD THAT THE PROVINCE AND THE FEDS HAVE TO FUND IT” I hate to see a waste of taxpayers funding whether it’s funding it partially or all of it.
If you want an example of a stadium funded WITHOUT the Province and the Feds? OTTAWA
The city and OSEG - no Federal or Provincial money. The city of Ottawa will be paid back and make money on their stadium and the site surrouding through taxes, fees, naming rights etc. It was built because of a Business Case, taxpayers were not expected to jump in and fund it.
I don’t think the final price tag really matters. The Sask gov’t basically set a precedent with the stadium decision for Saskatchewan. They will contribute 30% of the cost to a max of 80 million. The Feds on the other hand outright refused to help fund in any way any stadium/arena that is for a professional team unless it is for an international competition.
The amounts don’t matter, it’s the principle of it. Refusing to fund stadiums in Saskatchewan and Alberta only to fund one in Ontario would not go over very well at all.
Now they could probably get away with it in Alberta since that’s a one-party province and a dead cat would win there as a Conservative, but not so much in Saskatchewan.
On a related note, the Argos have a lease extension at Rogers Center until 2017, with no plans to go beyond that.
So there's a timer on the stadium issue.
No one has said Federal money was involved, there is no federal money involved in Landsowne Live. The only way it would be is if a University is a partner. I think there is enough money in Ontario to build a small stadium without Federal money.
We taxpayers fund alot of stupid stuff, and alot of it is watsed and stolen, but I have no problem with taxpayers money going to the CFL ONLY. The CFL is a great canadian institution and should be saved at all costs.