One must wonder if tbe Elks will have to go private soon.
They built 20 odd million in their stabilization fund, including 10 million when they sold the Trappers years ago.
However they must be draining that fund quicker than the grounds crew drained the water from under the field turf on Friday
They are still paying Elizando, and that other clown Sunderland, this year and next. They gave Milanovich 500k for nothing at all.
They are practically giving tickets away, and yet cant draw 5 figures, plus they spent 7 figures, changing their name, only to tell everyone to put all of their belongings into a 12x12 clear bag, just in case someone dared to sneak in a fruit rollup for their kid.
The stabilzation fund must be mere pennies now, if anything is left at all.
I honestly think the only thing keeping this team from actually going private, is ironically the strong private support they get from sponsors. It was the the risk to sponsorship dollars, that made them change their name in the first place.
Would Bill Comrie, take a second stab at owning a CFL team? He bailed on the Lions pretty quick, but that was not his hometown team. Furthermore, like most rich people, he is 10 times richer now tban he was 25 years ago
From a pure business point of view the only reason I could envision for Comrie to buy the Elks would be for some type of corp tax relief because owning a CFL franchise is rarely a money making venture. I would like to see the actual P-L
statements for the teams David Brailey owned. I'm guessing it shows a loss overall. Dave hung in there a long time and in my estimation he should be presented a medal by the CFL and the cities.
He was either a crazed football fanatic or just plain nuts. But fans and the league owe him a debt. I'm guessing the Lions owner won't have that patience or the group that owns the Stamps. Calgary is in a somewhat different position in that like the other prairie teams there are two pro fan sports Hockey and Football so they don't have to worry about competing against pro Soccer. I believe Edmonton will survive under current community ownership and will have to unless a football mad multimillionaire, needing tax relief steps in. Mind you, he/she would have a better chance of losing less money than if he bought the Argos, Al's or Red Blacks. Football is a "state of mind" on the prairies that only Hamilton can rival in the east. If the Cats get on track win wise, their attendance which isn't that bad even now, will improve.
I am not sure how the public ownership of the Elks works. If someone were to buy the team, who would they buy it from and where would the money go?
Same question would apply to both Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, although Saskatchewan does have "shareholders/owners" of which I am one but that is more ceremonial than anything.
Calgary and BC used to be public teams as well. They went bankrupt, and private owners bailed ghem out.
Murray Pezim in BC and Larry Ryckman in Calgary.
Two guys both who were basically crooks.. Lol. Hopfully tbe Elks can find someone more decent if they can't turn things around on their own. Even in 2019, one reporter suggested that there was only 6000 fans in the building for their final game. They have to be losing boatlloads of money. The contingency fund was possibly as large as 30 million at one point however. They still might have a bit left.
The Elks didn’t touch a penny of their rainy day fund during the lost season despite having to keep their football ops going.
They were also a money making machine for the last 40+ years.
They would have to go through a decade of seasons like this one before even talk about going private would be considered
Hope your right
People seem to be reading a lot into the slim crowd against Calgary when the horrendous weather, including tornadoes south of us was more the cause.
An hour before game time the Lightning tracker had the city surrounded with red dots.
Elks said they could survive multiple seasons like last season with their rainy day fund. From a money standpoint they have been very well managed.
No business man would be interested in owning a CFL franchise for investment. It is a guaranteed money loser. However, if egoistic Billionaires get into a contest of personality, then exciting things could happen.
What if WXYZ billionaire decides to be more successful than ABCD billionaire or STUV billionaire but uses affordable CFL teams as pawns?? Such as Jack Mah VS Bezos VS Zuckerberg??
They can have bragging rights over each other, as to who is top dog.
Just wishful dreams, sorry about that.
Narrator: "Hey Edmonton. Want to go private?"
Paolo: "Where is this Edmonton private chat, and are there also attractive gals involved with this new operation? I'm asking for some friends too." 