Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathan
They don't need to stand on their own merits. They get "charity" from other MLSE properties and from the value the NBA has in the USA. There is also a bit of a shell game regarding NBA and MLB media deals for the Toronto teams. As the media outlets own the teams, they can pay whatever they feel they need to to make the team look profitable, regardless of whether they will make money on the contract or not.
And about being a sports powerhouse, isn't it the World Class American cities that Toronto wants to be in with? In which case it is failing..
Also, there is no reason to put quotes on pro when talking about the CFL.
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1) I disagree that they don't need to stand on their own merits! Pro sports is purely a business - if they weren't standing they'd eventually be pushed aside
Nobody is subsidizing them from what I can see. Yes they share in NBA league revenues - this is part of all pro sports - even the NHL & CFL i.e. In that case Toronto's CFL team would have 'charity' given to it by Saskatchewan TV viewers - who no doubt prop up the entire leagues TV ratings and hence contract value (as low as it is relatively speaking) - look at the viewer numbers posted of the top watched games! CFL doesn't look very successful outside of the Sask games
Viewership #s on TSN or CBC mean squat. Its hard to get 'real' viewership numbers now - the proof is in the revenues.
Shell game? The fact that the money is there in the first place...Toronto is in with the 'world' class (whatever that means anyway) American cities - you don't have to hate. I think TSN is subsidizing the CFL, using cable subscriber package fee $$ - they can do whatever they want with their share of the money they get from the cable cos.
2) Toronto's pro sports team's value rankings by Forbes are pretty decent! They are probably even given a 'Canadian discount'
3) In my eyes the CFL ranks just below the NCAA. The financials show that and the millions of North American football fans agree - don't forget it is
American football
How did the CFL expansion to the states go? What are the valuations of the CFL teams by Forbes? Candy coat it all you want and have a CFL love-in here, but it is a rinky-dink league by any measure
I mean look at the Regina stadium - the most successful team in the CFL - plays in a old outdated dump,,,even by NCAA standards (I was there last summer). The only hope of a new stadium is if the Saskatchewan government pays for it by funnelling taxpayer money from its crown corps!