The CFL Blue Bombers today will release their annual report and announce "a loss in the neighbourhood of " C$780,000 for FY '12, according to Lawless & Wiecek of the WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. Construction delays at the club’s new stadium, Investors Group Field, "forced the Bombers to play an unexpected extra season" in '12 at Canad Inns Stadium. That "forced the club to spend money on operations at two facilities while only taking in revenue from one." The product on the field in '12 also was "inferior -- the club went 6-12 during the regular season and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years -- and that also hurt the bottom line." Blue Bombers VP & COO Jim Bell late last year said that football "actually turned a profit" in '12. While the FY '12 losses are "significant," they are "almost negligible in the bigger picture of a team moving into a new stadium this season worth just under" C$200M. The revenue-generating capabilities of the new stadium "were on display Monday as the club announced a Paul McCartney concert for Investors Group Field on Aug. 12, the second major concert for the stadium this summer" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 4/23).
