Blue Jays next for contraction ?

[Glyndwr]

From todays Toronto Star....


`Village idiot' lays groundwork for Bud to fold up Blue Jays
Apr. 19, 2002. 01:00 AM
Dave Perkins


IT SOUNDS as if Ted Rogers is talking in code here, and the code is easy to break: He is starting the contraction ball rolling for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Bud Selig is giving away lots of money for old, worn-out baseball franchises and Ted wants some of it. Ted also wants out of this mess in Toronto. That much is patently obvious.

How else to explain the threat, delivered yesterday through Alan Horn, chief financial officer of Rogers Communications Inc., that Rogers will seek "other alternatives'' to pouring good money after bad down the rathole that the Blue Jays have become.

What does "other alternatives'' mean? That they're going to try to get a pitching staff?

Horn told financial analysts that, "clearly,'' the company had no interest in annually pumping $55 million into the Blue Jays and watching them lose that grand a sum each season. Team president Paul Godfrey, with whom Rogers now is said to have very little conversation, said it is "absolutely ridiculous for any company to lose $50 million a year.''

Neither man specified whether that amount was in U.S. dollars or Canadian pesos, but what does it matter?

If Rogers Communications cannot make this little enterprise work, if it cannot marry the ball team and the TV networks and the cable TV provider and make them worth owning, then it's time to seek what they are calling "alternatives.''

So what alternatives are there? Cut costs? Already have. Sell the club? Who would be stupid enough to buy it, given the above paragraph? Who would buy it without already owning the media outlet valve? Some twisted Canadian billionaire? Some corporate citizen with a municipal heart of gold?

Forget it. Labatt got out when the getting was good, the Belgians got out without probably knowing exactly what they were involved with. Rogers, who paid $112 million for 80 per cent of the team two years ago, has watched the franchise dry up completely. They drew 16,000 against the mighty Yankees last week? This team used to draw 16,000 for batting practice.

Rogers — the company, not necessarily the man — can't even get all the games on TV any more. Sunk so low as to go to the community channel. Had to strong-arm a couple of flower shows for the air time, probably.

Whether it was the strike, the lousy teams, dissatisfaction with baseball's path under Selig (which gets this vote), the lousy SkyDome, all that Blue Jay hubris coming home to roost or a combination of the above, pro baseball has nearly flat-lined in Toronto. The interest level has fallen mightily and Rogers is losing a ton of money.

How many tons he has to lose isn't completely known, but his people are saying there's a limit. The owner himself appeared to have hit a certain kind of limit on opening day, when he arrived, loud and proud, in the press box and the TV booth, identifying himself as "the village idiot'' and pronouncing the nation of Canada doomed within 15 years if the national currency crisis isn't taken care of.

No telling how reassuring all that was to the shareholders.

Rogers made all that money, so there's no doubt he can smell other dollars when they become available and look what Bud Selig is offering: A way out with a profit attached. The price tag for the Twins was $260 million (U.S.).

Whether it's Montreal and Minnesota or Montreal and Toronto a year from now there seems little doubt contraction is coming. If major league baseball were to lose both Canadian franchises, there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house. It was always a bother having to go through customs and listen to two anthems, anyway.

For Rogers, it would simply be business. And as his people promised yesterday, the business as it stands now is not going to continue.

[SmedIndy]

I wonder if they would contract the two Canadian franchises because they wouldn't have a lot of legal threats, being out of the US?

And while I'm sure that some Canadians would raise a stink about it, it may be the easiest way for them to do it if they feel its necessary.

[WiredTiger]

I hope they don't let any of the owners of the hook. Toronto is still a viable market for baseball if done correctly. With the management they know have in place they should be able to succeed.

[Craig S.]

It's an absolute shame that first Interbrew, and now Ted Rogers, have totally destroyed baseball interest in Toronto.

You've got a metro area of over 5 million people, with your closest competitor 4 hours away in Detroit. You should absolutely own all of Ontario, if not all of western Canada.

It breaks my heart to hear this stuff. There's so much that could be done to win back the fans in Toronto - and I don't mean putting ice in Skydome and making the players wear skates.

If you put out a good product, Toronto fans will support it.

[KCBOOMER]

I don't see how you can lose $50M a year on the BlueJays. Just doesn't seem possible. Is Arthur Andersen the accounting firm here?Or have they blown their payroll way out of sight with non-achievers?

As a ballpark the Skydome sucks but I have to tell you that sitting in it on a balmy sunny night with the dome open and a full view of the CN tower is really delightful.

[Slippery Pedro]

Learn from the Twins. MLB got slapped because the Twins had a lease for this year. What's the lease situation on Skydome?

[poorme]

Originally posted by Glyndwr
From todays Toronto Star....


`Village idiot' lays groundwork for Bud to fold up Blue Jays

How did Ruben Sierra get messed up in this?

[Duque]

Or is this another attempt by MLB to coerce new stadium funding out of Toronto?

[TGwynn19]

Originally posted by Duque
Or is this another attempt by MLB to coerce new stadium funding out of Toronto?

No way!! They would NEVER EVER do something so low!

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by TGwynn19



No way!! They would NEVER EVER do something so low!

I too, am amazed that one would accuse Mr. Selig and the owners of extortion....

[Craig S.]

Originally posted by Duque
Or is this another attempt by MLB to coerce new stadium funding out of Toronto?

Great - let's ask for more tax money, because Canadians don't pay enough already. High unemployment shouldn't matter as long as we have a pretty baseball field.

Ted Rogers dominates so much Canadian cable, and the Jays should be the cornerstone of his empire. I really doubt that they're sinking as badly as he makes it sound.

This is the first time I've ever gotten angry while posting on here. Every time an owner opens their mouth, they push me closer to the players' side.

[TGwynn19]

Originally posted by Craig S.


This is the first time I've ever gotten angry while posting on here.

That's right..let it out....feel it leave your body.......

[Skip]

Breathe, .... Breathe, ....

[Craig S.]

Originally posted by TGwynn19


That's right..let it out....feel it leave your body.......

You gotta' cut me a little slack here. As if a 6.96 team ERA isn't bad enough, now we've got this to deal with!

[Glyndwr]

Originally posted by Craig S.


You gotta' cut me a little slack here. As if a 6.96 team ERA isn't bad enough, now we've got this to deal with!

look on the birght side - we are only going against Mussina tonight