Franchise Notes

A former Blue Jays employee, who was at the MLB Winter Meetings this week, said, "If you put everything together, the Toronto club looks to me like a team getting ready to be sold." A player agent said, "It was evident after the end of the season teams were split into three groups. About 10 teams had more money than usual to spend on free agents. About 10 were going about business as usual. ... And less than 10 were operating as if their budgets were frozen. The Jays were one of those clubs." In Toronto, Bob Elliott notes the team had a $98M team payroll in '08 and finished fourth in the AL East despite an 86-76 record. There is "talk the 2009 team payroll will be $83[M] and there are lobby whispers it could drop as low as $70[M]" (TORONTO SUN, 12/12).

THAT'S THE SPIRIT? Texas businessman David McDavid, who was awarded $281M this week from TBS around his failed purchase of the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena operating rights, "called the trial and the years leading up to it a 'phenomenal burden,'" as he "believes he has lost his desire to own a team." McDavid said of the Atlanta Spirit ownership group, "Those franchises [the Hawks and Thrashers] are being run by a committee. They're a camel. If I had taken over, nobody would be fighting, unless I was fighting with myself." McDavid added, "I will always believe I would have done a better job. Look at their history. None of them had run a business like that in their life. ... My personal view is that those teams would be better off with anybody except those guys. Anytime you have all this crap going on ... they just don't seem to get it" (AJC.com, 12/11).

ICE WARS: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman writes these are "desperate times for the Maple Leafs," as they are going through "years of mediocrity on the ice." The team gave Brian Burke $15M last month to serve as President & GM, as the "pressure to make the Leafs great has reached a new high in recent months." RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has "stepped up his quest to buy an NHL franchise and move it to Hamilton, Ontario, in Toronto's backyard." With the "souring economy hurting attendance at NHL games, especially in the Southern U.S.," Balsillie is "positioning himself as a financial savior for a troubled franchise" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/12).

GOAL KICK: MLS Toronto FC has reached its season-ticket sales capacity of 16,000 for the second consecutive season. The team said that it "also enjoyed a 95[%] renewal rate from its subscribers, with 200 fans on the waiting list to become season-ticket holders." Toronto FC kicks off its '09 season on March 21 in K.C. against the Wizards. The team's home opener is set for April 4 against the expansion Seattle Sounders FC (CP, 12/11).