When I first saw this article, I missed the draft was being held Saturday, May 2. Big change to move it to the weekend and be televised on TSN once again.
Being visible in communities like this will continue to build Argo support. The grassroots connection with fans and young people can work everywhere in Canada the same way it has had success for western franchises.
It is a little late now to start claiming ownership of the name after sharing it for 38 years. Prior to the CFL forming in 1958 the teams were members of separate rugby unions and hence any claims that “we had it first” are moot. If Saskatchewan as an organization tries to prevent the return of the Ottawa Rough Riders name, they are doing a disservice to over 100 years of tradition in Ottawa and the history of the CFL.
I had no idea the Bombers were sitting on such a large surplus and that offsetting the supposed $10 million franchise sale price does not look good. Anyone can do the math and see the buyer is only paying $5 million.
Full report can be found on the Blue Bomber site. Interesting to see CFL revenues jump half a million and a graph showing the last 5 years of league disbursements.
The turnaround seems related to the economy and support for the regime after GM Roy Shivers and coach Danny Barrett were let go. Saskatchewan is a place where they vote with their wallets.
Phil Lind doesn’t see countries, communities and the fabric of Canadian society, he sees markets and discretionary income.
All funding agreements are in place, all that remains is City Council approval on the sale of the existing stadium land and University of Manitoba Board of Governors approval on the lease of the land for the new stadium.