Trillium Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Now that the move to put the Argo's into the National Soccer Stadium are dead, and MLSE has apparently lost interest in owning the Argonaut franchise in the CFL... speculation would lead to linking the following. 1. Argos need a up to 25K stadium in the inner GTA core, on a subway or GO Train line. 2. Hamilton Tiger Cat ownership needs a second tenant in the new stadium in Hamilton. 3. Ottawa has a joint owned NASL/CFL franchise set up for Lansdowne Park. 4. NASL is easy cost entry league for someone controlling a stadium. Does this mean anyone looking at buying the Argo's and running them in the CFL would be able to afford to build a 25K under 100 million ( $4,000.00 per seat cost) land and building cost stadium in the GTA, and doing so with minimum or no federal or provincial money ? Would such an owner if they exist add on a NASL franchise if the Tiger Cat ownership committed to a NASL franchise ? Could the Saputo owned group afford from private family money be an owner of the Argos and run an NASL franchise in a Toronto based stadium with a long term sponsorship from Saputo the corporation ? Are there any other individuals in the Toronto area who have the resources and corporate clout to invest 100 million for a stadium and a CFL/NASL operation ? Given the current situation in Toronto re sports franchises what kind of revenues could a Argo's team generate in a wholly owned stadium ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadians_by_net_worth So again .. a pure speculation posting.... but it would seem there are options that could be exercised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvroArrow Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 A large chunk of the recent sports acquisitions in Canda have been by media companies who are looking to buy content for their TV stations. Since Bell and Rogers are major stakeholders in MLSE, and MLSE is apparently expressing little interest in actually buying the Argos (unless its a bluff), then that takes out two of your most likely buyers. Plus they wouldn't want to have a NASL team competing with TFC anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 A better thread would have been to discuss the rumoured CFL/TSN/Bell national league. By the way the Argos move to BMO is only mostly dead. And mostly dead is still slightly alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillium Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share Posted July 3, 2014 A large chunk of the recent sports acquisitions in Canda have been by media companies who are looking to buy content for their TV stations. Since Bell and Rogers are major stakeholders in MLSE, and MLSE is apparently expressing little interest in actually buying the Argos (unless its a bluff), then that takes out two of your most likely buyers. Plus they wouldn't want to have a NASL team competing with TFC anyways. If your buying teams/properties for the television content the equation is clearly different, I am not sure Bell and Rogers as communications companies doing over the air or cable speciality channels want to own a NASL franchise in any case, hence I talked about buisiness people with significant personal wealth .... who might leverage business marketing with ownership of a franchise for both in the GTA. Interestingly if a owner had a NASL franchise and had the revenue stream to pay for production costs...they could probably buy national air time on the CBC for the cost of production plus a few shekels to pay for transimission costs and have a team NASL with a national TV contract playing in the countries biggest media market. That if your ambition is to grow bigger it throws a direct challenge at MLSE and the TFC franchise. A 100 million war chest not spent on MLS franchise fee goes a long way to being competitive on and off the field if such a deep pocketed owner emerged, be she Canadian or Russian or ... an arab shiek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillium Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share Posted July 3, 2014 A better thread would have been to discuss the rumoured CFL/TSN/Bell national league. By the way the Argos move to BMO is only mostly dead. And mostly dead is still slightly alive. I do not think the CFL/TSN/Bell national league as rumored will fly, I think added NASL franchises will be the way to go ... and I suspect USSF and NASL can find away around any issues they have with more Canadian franchises. The North American fan base appears to only want to support teams that get the right atmosphere in a stadium, Ottawa is the current big experiment to see if CFL/NASL can co-exist in a market under one ownership and play on artificial turf, I think the experiment will take three years to determine. My gut tells me natural turf fields are better for soccer, but the economics may well make dual use stadia viable. I have watched the CSA for too long to believe they have the business connections or understanding how to build a Canadian League .... hence why they opted out of the Div 3 CSL oversite roll and turned it back to provinces. The skill sets are not there at the CSA and they do not have the cash to hire the right kind of person to make it happen. So I come back to one of the richest markets in North America having need of a CFL stadium and having room for a NASL franchise to compete with the MLS in Toronto.... how long can that be left untouched before someone swoops in ? "Mostly dead is stil alive" agreed but there will be no Hail Mary pass to bring Argo's to BMO even at a one dollar price tag to buy the franchise within three to four years, that I suspect is an eternity in terms of protecting TFC from competition in the market place from another stadium that can host professional soccer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmd Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 I think The Argo's should strike a deal with YORK UNIVIVERSITY. On the Campus a new PanAm Stadium is being built, that can later be used by the Argos' and a NEW NASL Toronto team. And it will be on the York U Subway Line. TFC in the south and an NASL team in the North part of the CITY. And ,with YORK U having one of the best soccer programs in the Country, we could see more homegrown players. If New York can house 2 MLS teams and a NASL team, Toronto can definetly have one of each. And with York U being on the Border of the 416 & 905'ers and the 905'ers with some of the best Soccer Clubs to tap into, it's a no brainer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 That York U. Stadium will have a running track. Not intimate at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmd Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Maybe a New Toronto NASL team along with the ARGOS can share York U's current grass stadium. It will need money to bring it up to CFL & NASL standards, but everything i meantioned would still apply. If the University and one of the pro teams have games at the same time or within hours of one another the pro teams get the grass fiels and the university use the PANAM stadium. York U is already housing Tennis Canada, and one of Canada's Track & Field facilities. So why stop now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heepster Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 The Argos already have their practices at York U, and the last two years have had their home pre-season game at Varsity. If they really do only have 3500 season ticket holders, maybe they don't need a new stadium. There's not much hope of someone else paying to build a new stadium just for them, unless maybe they could weasel their way into having it be part of a new casino complex. Supposedly the proposals all specify a "casino-resort type of entertainment complex", with the casino floor taking up no more than "5 to 7 percent of the entire square footage". A football stadium and practice field could take up a lot of room and therefore allow the actual casino part to be bigger, and maybe the casino owners would be willing to swallow losing the money owning the Argos would involve. But that would be a real long shot and probably wishful thinking, since no GTA municipality seems to want it. http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4485814-make-casino-election-issue-markham-councillors-say/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfitz Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 That York U. Stadium will have a running track. Not intimate at all Isn't the model for CFL intimate stadiums Molson Stadium in Montreal? Doesn't it have a running track? I think it used to at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoccerJedi Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 The Argos already have their practices at York U, and the last two years have had their home pre-season game at Varsity. If they really do only have 3500 season ticket holders, maybe they don't need a new stadium. There's not much hope of someone else paying to build a new stadium just for them, unless maybe they could weasel their way into having it be part of a new casino complex. Supposedly the proposals all specify a "casino-resort type of entertainment complex", with the casino floor taking up no more than "5 to 7 percent of the entire square footage". A football stadium and practice field could take up a lot of room and therefore allow the actual casino part to be bigger, and maybe the casino owners would be willing to swallow losing the money owning the Argos would involve. But that would be a real long shot and probably wishful thinking, since no GTA municipality seems to want it. http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4485814-make-casino-election-issue-markham-councillors-say/ Pickering just held a meeting about this: http://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/4385356-casino-waterpark-hotels-proposed-for-pickering/ . It's a project led by a member of the Apostolopoulos family - same folks who bought the Pontiac Silverdome for dirt cheap. Only real issue, site is not a quick walk from either Pickering or Ajax GO stations. I believe Pickering was mentioned by the Argos in the past, before all the recent MLSE / BMO stuff came about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Isn't the model for CFL intimate stadiums Molson Stadium in Montreal? Doesn't it have a running track? I think it used to at least. Yes. But I was thinking in terms of hosting soccer there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Hammer- Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 This is a complete non-starter while David Barley still owns the Argos. He's trying to find a buyer as he's trying to get his affairs in order. Even if you do have Braley selling to team to an owner who would want to front the costs of a soccer team, you're still competing with TFC, which while they may have sold out their tickets, haven't been seeing the packed house, fanatical support they used to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfitz Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Yes. But I was thinking in terms of hosting soccer there. Then it won't be intimate for soccer, given the deep end zones. Let the Argos sort out their troubles with a facility at York. If we need a soccer stadium in that part of the city, then add some stands to one of the existing soccer pitches near Downsview Park subway station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 The Argos are most likely going to BMO Field. All this talk of other locations is wishful thinking by soccer fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillium Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 If they are going why is the reno discounting their presence? The city of Toronto would be in tough to spend money now and rip up the work three years down the road.. If Olivia Chow is elected there will be little political will in the mayors chair for such a decision your crack head buddy is likely not to win next time. The Toronto market is huge and rich MLSE has a cash cow that they have made errors with, if they bring the Argos to BMO they might pull it off, but they open the door more to a NASL club that is supporter centric...allowing streamers and flares having standing terraces as the Impact did in NASL ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfitz Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 If they are going why is the reno discounting their presence? It's not discounting their presence. The design still alows for future conversion to allow for Argos to play there. It's simply moved the necessary $20 million of work from the scheduled phase 2 (2015-2016) to an unscheduled future unfunded phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.