The long-awaited sale of the CFL Toronto Argonauts is "expected to be announced" as soon as today, paving the way for the team "to move into a renovated BMO Field in time" for the '16 season, according to Dave Naylor of TSN.ca. The new ownership group will be a "partnership between" Bell Media and MLSE Chair Larry Tanenbaum. The deal includes the Argos "hosting two Grey Cup games," including the '16 event. Whether either or both of those games will be played at Rogers Centre or BMO Field is "yet to be determined, with the possibility the 2016 game could coincide with the NHL staging its first Toronto outdoor game at BMO." The CFL believes "getting into a suitable outdoor facility, such as BMO Field, will significantly improve both the fan experience and the economics of operating the team" (TSN.ca, 5/19).
FIELD OF DREAMS: The CP's Ralph & Davidson noted the announcement will "cap roughly a year of talks" between Argos Owner David Braley and MLSE. It was "generally accepted that the sale of the team and lease agreement at BMO would be announced together but the deal had to be completed by June 1 for the football team to have any chance of playing" at BMO in '16. Rogers Communications, which is part of the MLSE ownership group with Bell and Tanenbaum, is "absent from the deal." Rogers was reportedly "not interested in acquiring the 142-year-old franchise, likely because it has no ties to the CFL while Bell has a vested interest in the league through its broadcast affiliate TSN" (CP, 5/19).
MOMENTUM CHANGER: In Toronto, Bruce Arthur notes the move also "triggers Phase II" of the US$120M renovation of BMO Field, after Phase I was recently completed. When it is done, the lakefront stadium will "have a roof and be expandable to 40,000 seats." Arthur: "This is nothing less than a rescue. Nobody was seriously willing to buy them without a stadium." There are those who believe the Argos could "actually make money at BMO, though that depends on the lease." But either way, this was seen by the CFL and by Bell as a "necessary step to ensuring the future of the league" (TORONTO STAR, 5/20). Also in Toronto, Koreen & Peat write the deal should at the "very least give the Argos a fighting chance to re-establish a footprint in Toronto after several lean years in front of sparse crowds" (TORONTO SUN, 5/20).
