Ownership

Jan 1 2012

After forgetting about this site for a couple years while the Leafs were in the capable hands of Brian Burke, I finally got off my ass and updated this site a couple of weeks ago.  I told the nobody who reads this site that I was thrilled to hear rumors the Teachers were looking to sell the Leafs.
Here is a quote from that blog,

"Perfect scenario would be Wayne Gretzky representing a Canadian ownership group (maybe Basillie or Tannenbaum, not Mcnall).

Well, the very next morning I woke up to find out the MSLE was in fact sold by the teachers to Rogers and Bell.  I have always believed that one owner who cares about winning as much as making money is the way to run MSLE.  Maybe that didn't work when Ballard and Stavro were running the show, but in this day and age, someone like Harold Ballard would be run outta the league pretty quickly. Between internet fan sites, social media and the mass of professional media that follow the Leafs, there will be intense pressure for whoever owns MSLE to do what's best for the team.  If MSLE is owned by one rich guy, he will make plenty of money (especially now that there is a salary cap), but he will also have to answer to a city desperate for a contender if he doesn't build us one. 

Now that Rogers and Bell own the Leafs, we can expect prices to go up, they are both in this for the money.  But Rogers and Bell are both Canadian corporations that are media savvy and community contributors.  They both sponsor a lot of different things that contribute to our city.  They will have people in public relation departments that will feel pressure to answer for the state of our team.  Whoever they hire for this position will never feel the pressure to bring the cup home like a single owner would.

That being said, I am happy the teachers made their money, but I am happier they are out.  Rogers and Bell might up prices, but if they are committed to bringing a cup home, I will pay a little more for Leafs TV.

Right now their job looks pretty easy, our management structure looks solid, so all our new owners have to do is monitor the team's progress while they cash their cheques.