Rogers' anti-CFL agenda

[DanTheFan]

Yes, that's who they got to throw out the first pitch in the season opener.

Yep. Geddy's a huge Blue Jays fan. Dude deserved it. At least it wasn't Beiber or Carly Ray Jepsen.

[zontar]

Todays BJ game vs NY was called a "sell-out" ? A good crowd but still lots of empty seats.

[Deerkeeper]

Todays BJ game vs NY was called a "sell-out" ? A good crowd but still lots of empty seats.

Was it a "sellout" to watch the Blue Jays or a "sellout" to watch the Yankees?

[argotom]

Who gives a rats rectum about anything Rogers, be it the Crap Jays and also the MLSE corporation.

[tc23]

Todays BJ game vs NY was called a "sell-out" ? A good crowd but still lots of empty seats.

They call it a sell out but Rogers Centre hold over 53,000. they are saying 46,000 is a sell out. They did the same thing for the bills games !! NOT EVEN CLOSE TO A SELL OUT,

[jerrym]

I think Rich has nailed it -- McCown has mostly made his career by being a contrarian. He has fallen right into line with the Rogers hype over the Blue Jays so far this year, tho -- what will he do if they crap the bed all season?

So far they've been a total crap-out. The only BJ in first place is BJ Upton with the Atlanta Braves. Enjoying every minute of it after all the off-season bragging about how all the money spent and talent brought in was going to put BJ and Rogers at the top of the league.

[argotom]

Not many including Rogers or the clowns on Sportsnet will repeat on a regular basis how Rogers has lost $30M+ on the Crap Jays each and every year since acquiring the team.

[argolio]

Not many including Rogers or the clowns on Sportsnet will repeat on a regular basis how Rogers has lost $30M+ on the Crap Jays each and every year since acquiring the team.

If they keep stinking the joint out there's no doubt they'll lose a lot with the cash they're spending in 2013, but I bet the Jays haven't lost anything close to $30M+ in years. Shared league revenues have skyrocketed, and teams also share 1/3 of local revenues, which includes huge local TV deals such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. That's why you never hear about perennial losers like San Diego, Kansas City and Pittsburgh being in financial trouble, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Jays have been no worse than $5-10M away from break-even in the last few years.

Even if the Jays did lose a lot every year, no one in the media would make a huge issue of it unless the league or Rogers was in financial trouble.

Todays BJ game vs NY was called a "sell-out" ? A good crowd but still lots of empty seats.

My theory is a lot of Yankee fans buy two seats because they like to put their feet up.

[Ron]

Rogers and MLSE are great targets for fans with lower self team esteem.

[Deerkeeper]

Rogers and MLSE are great targets for fans with lower self team esteem.

You reap what you sow, and Rogers has done nothing but sow bad feelings amongst a great many Argo fans. MLSE less so, but people will continually bring up BMO as a sore point.

[Mulder]

Went to the game yesterday too. First time since my very first Argo game back that I sat in the 200 level.

It made me miss my 1st row seats in the end zone with no backs. I'm not tall by any means, but had no leg room at all. Knees cramped up against seat in front of me. Didn't help that it was a pretty boring game until the 8th.

I would think that this could very well be a reason why casual fans don't want to head down to the dome. Remove a row or 2 of seats and give people wider seats and more leg room would make it much more enjoyable.

[Ballstothewall]

If they keep stinking the joint out there's no doubt they'll lose a lot with the cash they're spending in 2013, but I bet the Jays haven't lost anything close to $30M+ in years. Shared league revenues have skyrocketed, and teams also share 1/3 of local revenues, which includes huge local TV deals such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. That's why you never hear about perennial losers like San Diego, Kansas City and Pittsburgh being in financial trouble, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Jays have been no worse than $5-10M away from break-even in the last few years.

Even if the Jays did lose a lot every year, no one in the media would make a huge issue of it unless the league or Rogers was in financial trouble.

My theory is a lot of Yankee fans buy two seats because they like to put their feet up.

The 300 million in losses is well documented and Ted Rogers himself as been quoted in print, acknowledging his amount. The link as been posted many times

[bluto]

The 300 million in losses is well documented and Ted Rogers himself as been quoted in print, acknowledging his amount. The link as been posted many times

yep. and ol' Ted had absolutely no reason whatsoever to lie and/or inflate that number...

[argolio]

The 300 million in losses is well documented and Ted Rogers himself as been quoted in print, acknowledging his amount. The link as been posted many times

Okay, and he said that when -- six or so years ago? Doesn't mean what he said and what I wrote can't both be true. Things change.

[Invader]

What burns me is TSN/CTV give the Jays 1st rate coverage, like all of Canada's media outlets do. But Rogers and their sycophants think it's acceptable to shun the CFL because "it's not our property and we don't own it". As in, they'll only feature sports news which helps promote the ratings of their own media properties, and that giving the CFL decent coverage would only "help their competitor"?

Rogers said (on behalf of MLSE, I believe) they didn't want to buy the Argos because "it didn't include broadcast rights". And they didn't want the CFL broadcast rights because they "prefer to own their broadcast properties". But nobody questioned Pelly's statement when they announced the new Bills in Toronto series, that the deal was crucial because it allowed Rogers to broadcast the BiT game on SportsNet? Which of course is a joke and not true. Rogers buys the Canadian rights to NFL games in a separate deal which has nothing to do with where the Bills play.

I hate to mention this, but much of the Jays confirmed $300,000,000 losses from 2000 to 2008 was a result of the unfavourable U.S. exhange rate. The Jays pay their salaries in U.S. dollars, which became 20% cheaper with the dollar at par (or thereabouts).

There is little question that SportsNet grossly overpays for the Jays TV rights (all the other networks dropped them), but that's only smart business...transferring profits from a highly-profitable company to another company you own which is losing money...saving the 15% corporate tax on...say $20,000,000? Despite this, I'd say the Jays were still losing money but perhaps in the $10 million to $20 million range...until this season's massive payroll increase which could only partially be recovered with increased attendance.

[Ballstothewall]

yep. and ol' Ted had absolutely no reason whatsoever to lie and/or inflate that number...

Yeah, I'm sure his stock holders loved the fact he would lie about losing 300 million

[Ballstothewall]

Yeah, I'm sure his stock holders loved the fact he would lie about losing 300 million

Sure they can, but the point is the Jays have lost money, sometimes lots of money, yet no one in the media mentions it. Now they have increased their payroll by what 60 million. If the Jays don't get a huge bump in attendance, that 30 million a year in losses, will look like nothing

[294life]

Yep. Geddy's a huge Blue Jays fan. Dude deserved it. At least it wasn't Beiber or Carly Ray Jepsen.

he used to be a huge expos fan. he may yet be swayed....

[bluto]

Yeah, I'm sure his stock holders loved the fact he would lie about losing 300 million

if stock consistently goes up an , wtf do they care what he instructs his legion of accountants to tell the taxman?

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=RCI-B.TO&a=00&b=12&c=1995&d=03&e=22&f=2013&g=m

follow the above link and see how many times a year the word "dividend" happens...

[argotom]

What burns me is TSN/CTV give the Jays 1st rate coverage, like all of Canada's media outlets do. But Rogers and their sycophants think it's acceptable to shun the CFL because "it's not our property and we don't own it". As in, they'll only feature sports news which helps promote the ratings of their own media properties, and that giving the CFL decent coverage would only "help their competitor"?

Rogers said (on behalf of MLSE, I believe) they didn't want to buy the Argos because "it didn't include broadcast rights". And they didn't want the CFL broadcast rights because they "prefer to own their broadcast properties". But nobody questioned Pelly's statement when they announced the new Bills in Toronto series, that the deal was crucial because it allowed Rogers to broadcast the BiT game on SportsNet? Which of course is a joke and not true. Rogers buys the Canadian rights to NFL games in a separate deal which has nothing to do with where the Bills play.

I hate to mention this, but much of the Jays confirmed $300,000,000 losses from 2000 to 2008 was a result of the unfavourable U.S. exhange rate. The Jays pay their salaries in U.S. dollars, which became 20% cheaper with the dollar at par (or thereabouts).

There is little question that SportsNet grossly overpays for the Jays TV rights (all the other networks dropped them), but that's only smart business...transferring profits from a highly-profitable company to another company you own which is losing money...saving the 15% corporate tax on...say $20,000,000? Despite this, I'd say the Jays were still losing money but perhaps in the $10 million to $20 million range...until this season's massive payroll increase which could only partially be recovered with increased attendance.

Not likely this year with the increase in the payroll will the team lose per your low estimates of between $10M-$20M?
Even with the increase in attendance it will not come close to the jump in the salaries.
Then if the team continues to play poorly which they hopefully will, the fans will likely bail and hence the increase losses.