If MLSE buys Argonauts, it opens up a can of worms
Bill Lankhof, Toronto Sun September 05, 2013
If the CFL isn’t careful, it could end up as the entree at a Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment-sponsored headhunters’ convention.
MLSE is casting solicitous eyes toward the Toronto Argonauts. It is a tryst, like that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, that could see a third suitor lurking outside the bedroom door.
The NFL.
A union with MLSE would bring the Argonauts benefits. MLSE has money, connections and power in the corporate community. The buzz word in business — and in pro sports — is synergy. So this could be really, really good.
It could also turn into corporate synergy run amok.
Depending on MLSE’s ultimate intentions, it could make the Argonauts the jewel in the crown of the CFL — or, alternatively, spell the demise of a league that has been part of the Canadian mosaic for more than a century.
There isn’t much that moves, and sweats, and has the potential for a financial return, that doesn’t pique interest at Toronto’s monolithic sports empire.
When a corporate mogul such as Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of MLSE, speaks seriously about what it might take to convert their soccer stadium at BMO Field for football, as he did Thursday in a conference call, it is a sign there is something afoot.
It is also a refreshing change from the usual denials, prevarications and stone-walling that often has marked MLSE’s culture.
It already owns the Maple Leafs, the Raptors and, actually, they’re not bad at building condos, either. So the object of their entrepreneurial infatuation doesn’t even have to show much mobility, which kind of explains the moribund nature of its soccer club, the TFC.
They don’t own the Blue Jays, but Rogers Communications does — and MLSE is related in a second-cousin kind of way. Toronto may be a big city, but the power brokers pushing the cocktail napkins on the sports scene are like the Family Compact.
When it comes to corporate inter-marriage, there are a lot of cousins grappling in the hay loft. The Argonauts have become a forgotten orphan in that scenario.
So, joining the family, hooking up with MLSE, would appear to be a dream match.
It would allow the Argonauts to keep up with the Joneses in a CFL that has not seen such an upsurge in fortunes since the early 1980s. New stadiums are popping up. TV ratings are solid. Next year, the league expands back to Ottawa.
And then, there is the black hole of Toronto. We used to have a baseball team that played in a football stadium. We fixed that. Now we have a football team that plays in a baseball stadium.
The Argos have talked of upgrading a latrine for geese that doubles as their practice facility at the U of T’s Erindale campus since before the invention of Pinball Clemons.
In spring, the fields are so flooded, players are ferried around various high school fields to practice. A couple of years ago, a fire ravaged the makeshift portables. The bad news, a cynic might note, is that the fire brigade got there in time to stop it from burning down the whole thing.
So consummation of any relationship with MLSE, regardless of the outcome, would be welcome, right?
After all, with all that MLSE money, a stadium could be built. Actually, they don’t even have to build one. They’ve BMO Field.
“This is a (facility) built with public money and yet we still have the Argonauts playing at the Rogers Centre. It doesn’t make sense,” said Rudge, of the MLS soccer pitch.
Then there’s MLSE’s practice facility for its soccer team at Downsview. There’s already a football field, too. The Argos admit they’ve spoken with MLSE about practising at those facilities.
Just one more layer of synergy.
So what’s not to like?
With MLSE’s monopoly on sports teams and with their TV connections, it all makes so much sense.
MLSE could be the Holy Grail for the CFL — and certainly for the Argonauts. Owned by David Braley, he’d prefer to be the ex-owner.
Preferably as soon as yesterday.
“Mr. Braley’s first priority has and always will be the best interest of the CFL and he won’t deviate from that. He will put it in the hands of someone who will ensure the health of the Argos,” said Rudge.
So MLSE’s interest comes at a prescient moment.
It looks too good to be true. And you know what people say about things that are too good to be true.
They usually are ... too good, that is.
As MLSE and the Argos skip down their yellow brick road, perhaps it is intuitive to peek behind the curtain. You know, before the Argos find themselves in Kansas ... cloned in New England, or Miami and a half-dozen other NFL cities.
Now, remember, we’re playing “what if ...” here. But even Rudge admits playing that game is all part of what makes the sports industry so intriguing.
“There are a lot of ‘what ifs’ and I guess this is one of them. It’s the fun part about sports. It may be rumours, but at least people are interested enough that we’re part of the water-cooler discussion,” said Rudge this week, after sources told the Sun that a senior executive of MLSE had toured the Argonauts’ spartan practice venue.
“I can remember not long ago when we’d have welcomed this kind of interest.”
The question is, in putting out that welcome mat, what are the motives of those stepping across it? There is nothing simplistic about an Argonauts-MLSE union that could have sinister ramifications.
Multiple sources have told the Sun that MLSE’s ultimate goal is to bring an NFL team to Toronto. And there could be no darker day than that for the CFL.
Don’t be fooled. The NFL in Toronto is the CFL’s death-knell. They cannot co-exist. It will kill the Argos. But it will also kill the Roughriders. The Blue Bombers will become dinosaurs, starved into history, because the corporate money that supports the league comes out of Toronto.
If the NFL is in Toronto, that pipeline closes. Leiweke, who took over as president and CEO of MLSE, came close to getting an NFL franchise for Los Angeles. As president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, he merged more than 50 divisions and companies in all aspects of the entertainment and sports business. He came to Toronto to make the Leafs and Raptors competitive, but more importantly, to build a sports legacy. The word on the street is that he believes he can accomplish that by bringing an NFL franchise north.
As much as this could be the gilding of the Argonauts franchise, it could just as well add up to being the entire league’s Venus flytrap.
The NFL has reservations about stepping over the border. They would prefer not to be perceived as the bad guys in any doomsday scenario for the CFL.
Leiweke, perhaps, does not share, or care, if he is perceived as the bad guy, particularly in western Canada where the CFL is a treasured commodity — at least not if it meant making him and Roger Goodell the toast of Toronto.
Corporations can’t own NFL franchises. But there are sugar daddies willing to be front men, willing to let MLSE run the show while they collect the money and smile for the photo ops.
So the question is, how would owning the Argonauts help MLSE land an NFL team?
There is no good answer. Sources have indicated there is a feeling within MLSE that proving they can do a good job running the Argos would endear them to the NFL. That seems like so much fairy dust. There doesn’t appear to be a connection, except that there are a lot of ways to kill something — including doing it with kindness. So it remains germane to speculate where MLSE might take the Argos — and the CFL with them.
This is about more than sports. It isn’t merely about wins and losses. It certainly isn’t about how it would affect grassroots Canadian football. It’s not even only about MLSE and the Argonauts.
It’s about money. Big business. The tentacles intertwine like an octopi orgy.
Just who owns what, and whom, is a matrix of confusion. Much of it comes back to television.
There is Rogers, which owns Sportsnet and the Blue Jays.
Bell owns TSN.
Rogers and Bell are partners in MLSE. Which makes a cynic note that MLSE actually already own the Argonauts. Why? Because TSN owns the league. It has 300 hours of coverage this year, including the broadcast of all 72 games live. So if TSN wants a Tuesday game at 4 p.m. in Saskatchewan, hey, they’ve got it. A night game in Edmonton to fill between the tennis and SportsCentre, even if it is minus-20? No problem.
Which does bring us back to this NFL angle. How happy would TSN be — owned by Bell, which owns MLSE, for which Leiweke works — if getting the NFL is his end game? The Argos may not make money, but as part of the CFL, they provide much of TSN’s programming. Suddenly, they’d have 300 hours to fill. And, face it, there’s only so many NASCAR races and bonspiels to fill that kind of hole.
It’s synergy in-breeding with synergy — and somebody is getting scrooged. But with cocktail napkins being pushed in a dozen directions, it’s difficult to figure out how, or why and what for ...
Take TFC. The Red Patch Boys, despite cheering for a lousy on-field product, have turned BMO field into a mini-soccer mecca. But, ominously, in a conference call Thursday, Leiweke refused to guarantee it would remain a soccer-only facility.
He declined to guarantee it would remain a grass field. There was talk of moving the end zones. Great for the Argos — not so great for soccer fans.
MLSE’s involvement makes sense because of its sports and TV connections. It could stabilize the CFL’s flagship franchise.
“It would be a natural fit. If it is going to happen,” said Rudge. “Whether they would pursue an NFL team, I can’t speak to. Speculation about an NFL franchise has been going on forever. I don’t think that will ever go away. How that would impact the CFL, the Argos, that’s fodder for the armchair critics.”
Argonauts fans would enjoy an intimate relationship with their team at BMO Field. But it would not come without a clash of synergies and angst. And, then, there is the elephant in the room — throw in those NFL aspirations, and it could become a doomsday scenario.
THE PLAYERS
Bell Media: Owns 37.5 % of MLSE, as well as CTV, special sports channel TSN, which has 300 hours of CFL programming, and 18% of the Montreal Canadiens.
Rogers Communication: Owns 37.5 % of MLSE, as well as the Blue Jays, the Rogers Centre and SportsNet.
MLSE: Owns the NHL Maple Leafs, the NBA Raptors, Major League Soccer TFC and the AHL Marlies. Owns Air Canada Centre, Maple Leaf Square, Lamport Stadium and Mastercard Centre. Also operates the City of Toronto-owned BMO Field and Ricoh Centre.
Tim Leiweke: Currently president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). Former President and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns the Los Angeles Kings, the Los Angeles Galaxy, part of the Los Angeles Lakers, the L.A. Live entertainment complex, and numerous sporting and entertainment venues around the world.
Toronto Argonauts: Founded Oct. 4, 1873. The oldest existing professional sports team in North America still using its original name.
David Braley: Owner of the Toronto Argonauts. A Hamilton native and a member of the Canadian senate, he also owns the CFL B.C. Lions, making him the only owner in North America to hold two professional football franchises.
National Football League: Most economically powerful sports league in the world. CBS, NBC, ESPN and ABC pay a combined $4.9 billion annually to broadcast NFL property. Considered the most popular sporting league in North America.
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