Argo Sale

[Downtownfan]

There is a very interesting thread over at the CFL website forum about the Argos sale and the negotiations supposedly going on. Sounds like MLSE will buy the team if they get 4 Grey Cups over the next 12 years, but the League only wants to give them 3. Not sure what to make of this.

[T-Bone]

There is a very interesting thread over at the CFL website forum about the Argos sale and the negotiations supposedly going on.

http://forums.cfl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95365

[ArgoRavi]

Flutie should be breaking that news on this forum! Anyway, if true, just give MLSE the one extra Grey Cup and let's get on with it. The Argos and the league have zero viable options otherwise.

[LLB997]

There is a very interesting thread over at the CFL website forum about the Argos sale and the negotiations supposedly going on. Sounds like MLSE will buy the team if they get 4 Grey Cups over the next 12 years, but the League only wants to give them 3. Not sure what to make of this.

where are people getting this inside info? they are not citing any sources. I think that 4 in 12 years is pretty excessive as the remaining in at timespan will equate to 1 Grey Cup for every other city.

[rdavies]

Westhead was on one of the TSN Radio programs the other day and stated that Leweike is still having conversations with the Argos.

Westhead: MLSE struggling to find a new president (9:10)

It's only one line (see above) so not much to the story. He also mentions Stacey Allaster as a candidate for MLSE President. You heard it here first (smilie), can't see it happening though.

[paulwoods13]

where are people getting this inside info? they are not citing any sources.

No sources cited and the OP (whose spelling and grammar are atrocious) ends the post with: "Then again perhaps its B.S, . . . "

Yet somehow, amazingly, this post results in a lengthy thread full of people taking it as gospel. I'll believe it when an announcement is actually made. Read too many "the deal will be announced soon" posts on this and other forums to take any of them very seriously.

[Downtownfan]

Well, however it ends up, this is the other shoe to drop, in my view. The first shoe was the sale of the Bills to the Pegulas; with Kim being in her forties, they will be in control of that franchise for a long, long time, and there is no way that they will allow a franchise in "their territory" (Rogers conveniently lost millions of dollars establishing that Toronto was indeed Bills territory) for decades to come. That was really the only chance that the NFL dead-enders had; expansion won't be an option either, as long as the Pegulas have a say. In any event, it was pie in the sky without a stadium. LA and London are where it is at for the NFL, and likely both through re-location, I guess.

So the other shoe is the MLSE to Argos play. They want to grow, have additional dates (especially lucrative Grey Cups), and keep the stadium they run (not own, which is the most important factor here) busy. This will really change the dial, move the goalposts, however you want to call it, because there will be:
1. a much better venue, with a game day experience that could actually be fantastic (having been to some TFC games-- we could make that place really rock)
2. stable ownership, with cross promotion, and first rate marketing
3. a media that won't be able to isolate and diminish the Argos, or at least not to the extent that have in the past
4. a company that will market the team in a way that has been absent for decades
5. a shift in perception among casuals about the team, and its "importance" in Toronto; new visibility!

I think that what has been going on explains the lack of season ticket sales/promotion. Most of the people who are with the Argos may unfortunately be wondering if they will have a job come next week.

Of course, I could be totally wrong on this stuff, but I really do think that there are much better times ahead.

[gilthethrill]

In the book "The Argo Bounce" by Jay Teitel, one chapter is labeled the "The Tease". This thread, for me is becoming just that.

[rdavies]

Yet somehow, amazingly, this post results in a lengthy thread full of people taking it as gospel. I'll believe it when an announcement is actually made. Read too many "the deal will be announced soon" posts on this and other forums to take any of them very seriously.

Well if we had some reporters get off their asses (instead of surfing the web and chowing down at the press box trough) and cultivate some sources we wouldn't have this rumour and speculation. This isn't the friggin Manhattan Project (for level of secrecy), there should be enough people who have to be included in something of this scale to have at least one person leak some info.

Is this story not big enough for the Toronto sports reporters whose biggest ambition is to eat at the free buffet in an NFL press box? WTF?

[ArgoRavi]

No sources cited and the OP (whose spelling and grammar are atrocious) ends the post with: "Then again perhaps its B.S, . . . "

Yet somehow, amazingly, this post results in a lengthy thread full of people taking it as gospel. I'll believe it when an announcement is actually made. Read too many "the deal will be announced soon" posts on this and other forums to take any of them very seriously.

As KevinRiley said over on the CFL forum, we are so desperate for any positive news on the ownership/stadium front that we will jump at anything. The one thing I will say for this particular rumour is that it might help explain why John Tory jumped the gun about Toronto hosting the 2016 Grey Cup. I don't think that Tory pulled that one out of mid-air.

[Downtownfan]

This might be a very significant story and reflects just how brutal the Toronto spots media has become . The notion of "doing actual journalism " seems well beyond most of the hacks that fancy themselves too big for the cfl.

[gilthethrill]

Well if we had some reporters get off their asses (instead of surfing the web and chowing down at the press box trough) and cultivate some sources we wouldn't have this rumour and speculation. This isn't the friggin Manhattan Project (for level of secrecy), there should be enough people who have to be included in something of this scale to have at least one person leak some info.

Is this story not big enough for the Toronto sports reporters whose biggest ambition is to eat at the free buffet in an NFL press box? WTF?

The big football news in the Sun is Richie Incognito is close to signing with the Bills!!!!!! Exciting!!!!!!!

[ArgoRavi]

The big football news in the Sun is Richie Incognito is close to signing with the Bills!!!!!! Exciting!!!!!!!

What does Zicarelli do during the CFL's off-season? I haven't seen an article from him since the Monday after the Argos' season ended.

[R.J]

4 Grey Cups in 12 years sounds ridiculous, 3 maybe a little less so, but in a way it makes sense. Montreal can't host any for the long foreseeable future, Ottawa has 2017 in the bag, I'd be surprised if Hamilton didn't get 2016 or at least one in the next 5 years. Winnipeg's got 2015, Saskatchewan won't hold for awhile, although with their new stadium to be completed by 2017 I could see them getting one before 2021. One would think Calgary would want one soon, especially if Ken King keeps going on about his mega stadium/arena complex that is suppose to be the biggest development that Calgary has seen in 50 years. Edmonton who knows ? and BC probably won't see one for a long while, considering they couldn't even give tickets away to sell out last year.

While I don't buy this rumour in terms of the details, I could see the CFL pandering to MLSE, the League needs them a lot more than MLSE needs the Argos or CFL.

[AngeloV]

What does Zicarelli do during the CFL's off-season? I haven't seen an article from him since the Monday after the Argos' season ended.

LMAO!! What does he do during the season? If anyone goes to practice, it amazes me how little he watches during practice, usually sitting down eating his lunch. It wouldn't surprise me if someone gives him a prepared list of questions to ask.

[jerrym]

No sources cited and the OP (whose spelling and grammar are atrocious) ends the post with: "Then again perhaps its B.S, . . . "

Yet somehow, amazingly, this post results in a lengthy thread full of people taking it as gospel. I'll believe it when an announcement is actually made. Read too many "the deal will be announced soon" posts on this and other forums to take any of them very seriously.

I too doubt there is any truth to this rumour. However, like drowning sailors, we will grasp at anything. However, if the rumour have some semblance of truth to it, all is not lost because of the 4 Grey Cups in 12 years. You can negotiate: 4 Grey Cups in 14 years. You don't like that - 4 Grey Cups in 13 years plus a free picture of our new CFL president. You don't like that. Okay - you win.

[shayman]

I recall that when SkyDome was under construction, people said "Ok, this is good, now we can rotate the Grey Cup between Canada's three domed stadiums" and at the time, it seemed like a very reasonable idea.

[Fumblitis]

Actually I don't have a problem with 4 Grey Cups in 12 years. Like it was pointed out on the CFL forum, that leaves 8 grey cups for other teams and I think that's reasonable.

[Downtownfan]

We seem to all forget that up until the 1970s, the Grey Cup was almost exclusively in Toronto (as was the Vanier). I don't think it is a big deal, and if MLSE were to have so much skin in this, they would market like crazy and make sure that these were a success. One thing about them, beyond their crappy teams, they sell stuff out (even terrible TFC did really well at the gate this year, after 7 years of complete loserdom).

Also, while this story is very much a rumour, we do know that it had been reported in December that Braley had a lease offer from MLSE on his desk; also, Braley had said that he would not negotiate regarding the team until after the season, and mentioned a "60 day" window" to negotiate. Other hints include just how quiet things have become, and Bob McCown's grudging admission that the MLSE/Argos discussions were back on, despite his earlier assertion that they were "dead."

[paulwoods13]

We seem to all forget that up until the 1970s, the Grey Cup was almost exclusively in Toronto (as was the Vanier).

Largely because only Toronto and Vancouver had stadiums big enough to produce a good gate.