Grey Cup '99 Chair Jack Farley said that the B.C.
Lions' 26-24 loss to the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL's
Western Final on Sunday was a C$1M "hit to the pocketbook"
of Lions Owner David Braley, who had secured rights to the
title game, according to Lowell Ullrich of the Vancouver
PROVINCE. If the Lions made the Grey Cup, Braley was likely
to earn a profit from hosting the game. But more than 37,000
tickets have been sold for Sunday's game, "just short of
what Braley needs in order to break even purely from the
sale of seats" (PROVINCE, 11/22). Braley paid around C$3M
to host the Cup, and in Toronto, Grant Kerr reports Braley
now "figures to break even instead of showing a healthy
profit had the game sold out at 59,478 with the home team
involved." Lions President Glen Ringdal estimated that
Braley "probably will lose" C$500,000 on team operations
this year (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/23). Ringdal: "As it stands, we
shouldn't lose money [on the Grey Cup]. ... It cost us
[C$3.2M] to purchase the game from the CFL and we will have
approximately [C]$800,000 in expenses. ... The break-even
number is about [C$4M]. At this point, we have [C$3.5M] in
the bank from revenues generated" (CALGARY SUN, 11/23).