TOO BAD: CFL PASSES ON D'ANGELO

CFL Talk
#1

In my opinion anyway, the dream appears over for Frank. Maybe Halifax is next?

CFL passes on D'Angelo
DAVID NAYLOR

Globe and Mail Update

Frank D'Angelo's dream of owning a Canadian Football League team in Ottawa appears to be over.

The energetic food and beverage entrepreneur confirmed yesterday that the CFL has notified him it does not wish to negotiate with his group for a possible expansion franchise in Ottawa.

"We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago, and for whatever reason this is what they've chosen," said D'Angelo, the president and chief executive officer of Steelback Brewery. "We're saddened, because we put a lot of money and time into it, but what am I going to do? I'm helpless. I think we were the right people."

D'Angelo's group was one of three that had expressed interest in relaunching a team in Ottawa after the four-year-old Renegades franchise was suspended last April. Another bid, by Golden Gate Capital of Toronto, was withdrawn last month when one of its primary backers was stricken with cancer.

The remaining bid comes from a group of U.S.-based investors and is led by former CFL player Bill Palmer. His son Jesse is the backup quarterback of the Montreal Alouettes.

The league had been seeking a $3.5-million franchise fee for a new Ottawa club, a steep figure considering the history of the market. The Ottawa Roughriders folded in 1996 after more than a century of operation in 1996, while a team resurrected under the name Renegades six years later went down amid millions of dollars in losses.

#2

Well I for one am glad to see this put to rest. Still hope for a new team or two in the league sooner rather than later, but I think the CFL will be better off without this self-impressed wing nut.

#3

Later works for me. I dont want nine teams. Eight, or ten. No team in Ottawa, unless an exisitng team relocates, until there is a tenth team as well.

#4

I like Frank.

#5

Well Argotom, we'll have to agree to disagree then. I just get the impression that he'd be as good as a Glieberguy, which the CFL doesn't need.

#6

hopefully there will be 10 teams in the near future

#7

Ten teams would be nice; if we're going to wait until 2008 anyway, why not add two, say two of Ottawa, Halifax, and Quebec City. Probably a pipe dream, but a nice pipe dream nevertheless.

Only problem I see is with the talent pool. Not sure if there are enough Canadians to stock two new teams, and in addition to that, in terms of an expansion draft, there's lots of weaknesses already with backup QBs; BC seems the only one solid at that position this year (Edmonton and Saskatchewan aren't too bad off, but if you are an expansion team do you really want Kevin Eakin, Tee Martin, Spergon Wynn, Nealon Greene, Ryan Dinwiddie, or Mike Quinn as your starting QB?).

#8

How would the divisions be divided up if we had 11 or 12 teams? With all of them being from the East?

#9

You could put Winnipeg back in the West and put Ottawa, Halifax and Quebec City in the East. You could also divide teams into 3 divisions if need be. BC, Cal, and Edm in one division , Sask, Wpg ,Tor and Ham in the 2nd, and Ottawa, QC, Montreal and Halifax in the 3rd. Most people will roast me for this one-- but it could work. If a 12th team is added then you could move Sask to the other division with BC,Edm and Calgary and place the 12th team in the best geograhic location. This is all on the assumption that Ottawa, Halifax and QC get franchises in the near future.

#10

its not a bad idea it could work

#11

MadJ I am not so sure. Frank to me is passionate at whatever he does including the corny but funny commercials.
With alot of money backing him, he has been a very good sponsor of the Argos for years.
What this league needs is guys like Frank, who to me is clearly opposite of the Gleiberguys, who has the love of the league and money to boot.
Unlike the stuffed shirts like Wettenhall and Braley.
The league and teams need to be properly promoted to the public and what better guy then Frank who loves the camera and limelight.
It's too bad, with Frank as the lead and maybe a Jeff Hunt possibly as Pres, it could have worked.

#12

I doubt that it would have worked with D'Angelo and Hunt. The league would want Hunt to be the face of the team in Ottawa while D'Angelo would use the team to get the attention that he obviously loves.

#13

We'll probably never know, but I wonder what the vote was. Does only three teams against carry the vote like for the Commissioner or is it a majority. I would think the Argo owners would be in his corner but maybe the western teams were thinking "Gleiberman".
I still think the best thing for Ottawa is for Melnyk to take over and put Hunt in charge as President. I think he would if the city of Ottawa would cooperate.

#14

3.5 million is a lot to ask for a franchise fee. For a league that needs to expand, They shouldn't be so demanding.

#15

With the average attendance of a CFL game around 30,000 people, what would the population of a Canadian city have to be in people's opinion, to be able to support a CFL team?

#16

I'd like to see an even number of teams too but IMO it would be better to get a 9th team (Ottawa) ASAP and look for the 10th when those pieces (stadium, owners,...) fall in place.

Even though 9 teams make for uneven divisions, it is better for the league to not unecessarily delay bringing Ottawa back. As was reported this week, the 30% drop in CFL TV numbers in Ontario this year can be explained in no small part by the departure of the Renegades. More teams also mean more bang for the buck for league-wide sponsors and advertisers which in turn means more revenue for the league.

My hope for the way things play out: Ottawa back up and running under solid ownership in 2008; Halifax awarded Commonwealth games and begins construction on a stadium; the CFL's newest team "Atlantic Storm" play their first game at home in Halifax 2012.

#17

What's the issue here?

Is D'Angelo not willing to pay the expansion fee, or, is the league unwilling to deal with him?

Some people think that it will be the end of football in Ottawa if the next edition of their team doesn't sell, but I don't.

It's a football team.

It's not like giving D'Angelo a franchise is the same as letting him lead the invasion of Normandy or something.

#18

lower numbers may mean lower tv revenue next yr, but with only 8 teams to share, instead of nine, that is not so bad. Specially when there are also other factors affecting the tv numbers as well.

#19

The League doesn't NEED to expand. It would be really nice to expand, it's high on their to-do list, yes ... but it doesn't NEED to. And considering a team has now "failed" twice in the past 10 years in the same market, $3.5 mil is definitely not too much to ask.

Also, growing too much, too fast is not a good way to keep stability. It's much better to take it slowly and make sure it's done properly. I'd rather wait for a couple of years and get 9, then 10 solid teams, than rush it, get 2 new unstable teams, and end up back at 8 teams within a decade.

Having nine teams is not such a big deal ... for about 40 years, this league has had 9 teams. 10 would be better, of course, but 9 is better than 8.

The CFL is definitely looking at Halifax moreso than Quebec City, at least right now. As long as they win the Commonwealth games (here's hoping), then they should be good to go, really. But I REALLY hope they don't use a name like "Storm" ... Admirals or Schooners is my vote ...

I think any city over 300,000 could support a CFL team (what's Regina's population?) Saskatoon has a higher population than Regina, but they're already all Rider fans ...

Anyway. Back to the original point. I'm glad D'Angelo is out of the running. He seemed to be Lonie Glieberman with a Canadian passport. I got the impression his main reason for wanting to own a team in Ottawa was to sell his beer. For Heaven's sake, he was going to rename the team after his beer!!!!! Not a good sign, IMO. The best owners stay out of the spotlight. D'Angelo would have tried to do it all, which does NOT bode well for the franchise.

To be honest, I'm really quite relieved he's out of the running. Now I just hope it works out with the Palmer group ... (my preference was for the Golden Gate group, but that's that).

#20

So Ottawa fans have to hear this news from D'Angelo himself?? Nice. Thanks for all the updates, CFL. You're really doing a great job on this.

Who knows if having no team in Ottawa this year affected the TV ratings, but I'm sure it did. Personally speaking, I did not watch one full game this year, compared to dozens last year when Ottawa had a team. The way the league has handled the whole Ottawa situation, last April, to present, has turned me off the league somewhat. (Of course I'll be back if/when they get their act together and give Ottawa their team back.) An update once in awhile from the league would be appreciated. Whats the problem here??? How many months do you need to do your homework and approve an owner??

Ok, thats all.