The future of the CFL in Toronto has been thrown into renewed turmoil after a backroom fight between Ottawa and the country’s largest sports concern.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment – owner of the Leafs, Raptors and Toronto FC – has cancelled plans to include the Toronto Argonauts in their renovation of BMO Field.
As of 2018, this would leave one of the continent’s most historic sports franchises without a venue in which to play. Right now, they are caught in a next-level bargaining war between two much bigger players.
As ever, the issue is money.
MLSE had planned a phased, two-year renovation costing $120-million. They had hoped for financial help from all levels of government. That was to include a $10-million loan from the city, and $10-million grants from each of the provincial and federal governments.
As part of that agreement, room would be made to accommodate the larger dimensions of the CFL playing surface, as well as a promise to buy the flagging football team.
However, long after public announcements were made, Ottawa has yet to sign off on its part of the expenditure. Their apparent problem – the optics of funding sports stadiums.
MLSE provided several fig leaves to give the government cover – including parceling the money into grants for expected big events like the Winter Classic and the Grey Cup, planned for BMO Field.
MLSE argued that the construction taxes alone – an anticipated $18-million – made the deal watertight politically. The feds thought otherwise, and continued to delay.
As Ottawa dithered, MLSE lost patience. They will now go ahead without the federal money and, as a direct result, without the Argos.
There is an added element of urgency, as BMO Field must be ready to host rugby matches for next summer’s Pan-Am Games.
New architectural plans have been drawn. A $120-million reno becomes a $100-million one. The arena will be rebuilt to its current dimensions, meaning there will be no north-south extension and no room for football end zones. Ground will be broken in September.
The city is expected to sign off on the revised, soccer-only plan. MLSE has received assurances that the province will do likewise if the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne survives a June 12th election. Wynne currently leads in the polls.
The decision has several roll-on effects.
Since there is no suitable alternative, it puts the Rogers Centre back in play as a football venue. That, in turn, creates a logistical problem for the arena’s plans to move to a grass field for baseball. The Argos were asked to leave at the end of the 2017 season because football is too hard on indoor grass.
It also ends MLSE’s interest in buying the Argos, putting them back on the market.
Within much of the MLSE hierarchy, buying the CFL team was seen as a favour being done in return for the opportunity to service the fans of Toronto FC. Without federal co-operation, no one feels the need to do any more favours.
It goes deeper than that. There is the strong sense within MLSE that Ottawa has let them off the hook. Supporters of the soccer club were deeply opposed to lengthening the field to accommodate the CFL. MLSE now gets to serve its base without taking the blame for a failed plan.
One voice within the corporation that will feel aggrieved is MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum. The minority owner is still on the hunt for an NFL franchise, possibly the Buffalo Bills. That team is in legal limbo following the death of founder Ralph Wilson, but is expected to hit the auction block in coming months.
While intrigued by the north-of-49 possibilities, the NFL does not want to be seen as undermining Canadian football. The league has made it clear that, if they were to allow a move to Toronto, they would prefer the prospective new owner also be in control of the Argonauts. As they see it, one owner for both teams guarantees the CFL’s long-term survival in Canada’s largest market.
Those are a great many reasons to find some sort of compromise, which MLSE has already provided on the back end.
BMO Field Renovation 2.0 is reversible. The north section of the structure will remain open, using only temporary stands, meaning that the arena can be adapted for the CFL at some future point.
That will now require the promised $10-million in federal money (easy to give) and a very public capitulation from Ottawa (somewhat more difficult).
In the end, this is no end at all. Instead, it is a shotgun clause by alternate means.
All this proving again that the business of sport is usually a good deal rougher than the playing of it.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/argos-on-the-outs-in-bmo-field-dispute-between-mlse-and-federal-government/article18862832/
The future of the CFL in Toronto has been thrown into renewed turmoil after a backroom fight between Ottawa and the country’s largest sports concern.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment – owner of the Leafs, Raptors and Toronto FC – has cancelled plans to include the Toronto Argonauts in their renovation of BMO Field.
As ever, the issue is money.
MLSE had planned a phased, two-year renovation costing $120-million. They had hoped for financial help from all levels of government. That was to include a $10-million loan from the city, and $10-million grants from each of the provincial and federal governments.
As part of that agreement, room would be made to accommodate the larger dimensions of the CFL playing surface, as well as a promise to buy the flagging football team.
However, long after public announcements were made, Ottawa has yet to sign off on its part of the expenditure. Their apparent problem – the optics of funding sports stadiums.
MLSE provided several fig leaves to give the government cover – including parceling the money into grants for expected big events like the Winter Classic and the Grey Cup, planned for BMO Field.
MLSE argued that the construction taxes alone – an anticipated $18-million – made the deal watertight politically. The feds thought otherwise, and continued to delay.
As Ottawa dithered, MLSE lost patience. They will now go ahead without the federal money and, as a direct result, without the Argos.
There is an added element of urgency, as BMO Field must be ready to host rugby matches for next summer’s Pan-Am Games.
New architectural plans have been drawn. A $120-million reno becomes a $100-million one. The arena will be rebuilt to its current dimensions, meaning there will be no north-south extension and no room for football end zones. Ground will be broken in September.
The city is expected to sign off on the revised, soccer-only plan. MLSE has received assurances that the province will do likewise if the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne survives a June 12th election. Wynne currently leads in the polls.
The decision has several roll-on effects.
Since there is no suitable alternative, it puts the Rogers Centre back in play as a football venue. That, in turn, creates a logistical problem for the arena’s plans to move to a grass field for baseball. The Argos were asked to leave at the end of the 2017 season because football is too hard on indoor grass.
It also ends MLSE’s interest in buying the Argos, putting them back on the market.
Within much of the MLSE hierarchy, buying the CFL team was seen as a favour being done in return for the opportunity to service the fans of Toronto FC. Without federal co-operation, no one feels the need to do any more favours.
It goes deeper than that. There is the strong sense within MLSE that Ottawa has let them off the hook. Supporters of the soccer club were deeply opposed to lengthening the field to accommodate the CFL. MLSE now gets to serve its base without taking the blame for a failed plan.
One voice within the corporation that will feel aggrieved is MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum. The minority owner is still on the hunt for an NFL franchise, possibly the Buffalo Bills. That team is in legal limbo following the death of founder Ralph Wilson, but is expected to hit the auction block in coming months.
While intrigued by the north-of-49 possibilities, the NFL does not want to be seen as undermining Canadian football. The league has made it clear that, if they were to allow a move to Toronto, they would prefer the prospective new owner also be in control of the Argonauts. As they see it, one owner for both teams guarantees the CFL’s long-term survival in Canada’s largest market.
Those are a great many reasons to find some sort of compromise, which MLSE has already provided on the back end.
BMO Field Renovation 2.0 is reversible. The north section of the structure will remain open, using only temporary stands, meaning that the arena can be adapted for the CFL at some future point.
That will now require the promised $10-million in federal money (easy to give) and a very public capitulation from Ottawa (somewhat more difficult).
In the end, this is no end at all. Instead, it is a shotgun clause by alternate means.
All this proving again that the business of sport is usually a good deal rougher than the playing of it.