The Expos "unveiled their secret weapon and last, best
hope in efforts to raise at least" C$75M in private funds
for a new ballpark -- "a salesforce of the city's corporate
elite who will try to make Quebec businesses give until it
hurts," according to Jonathon Gatehouse of the Montreal
GAZETTE. The six-man booster committee, which includes
former Canadiens GM Serge Savard, has "less than four months
remaining to persuade their friends and associates to pony
up" C$42M to keep the team in Montreal. With a June 30
deadline approaching, the Expos have raised C$33M, selling
"only" 3,500 of 18,000 PSLs and 35 of 60 corporate boxes for
their proposed $250M stadium. Gatehouse writes that
corporate support "is key" to Expos President Claude
Brochu's efforts to obtain financing for the ballpark. Team
officials said that they "are optimistic about the booster
committee's chances of succeeding in the boardrooms, where
the club has repeatedly failed to sell tickets" (GAZETTE,
3/11). Brochu said that 1,500 of the PSLs sold were the
"most expensive" available, selling for C$10,000 each. He
also said that 40%-50% of the major corporations in Montreal
"have not yet made a contribution," and that "some type of
public financing" would be discussed "at a later stage."
Brochu: "We will find a method satisfactory to taxpayers,
the government and ourselves" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 3/11).
REAX: From a Montreal GAZETTE editorial, entitled
"Stepping Up To The Plate": "[A PSL] is a small investment
for any company that cares about the quality of life in
Montreal and the future of the downtown core. ... Losing
[MLB] would be an economic blow to the tourism industry, but
its biggest impact would be psychological. For a city
struggling to regain its former stature, the departure of
the Expos would be a defining moment, of the very worst
kind" (GAZETTE, 3/11). In Toronto, Stephen Brunt writes on
the economic troubles of the Expos and NHL Oilers. Brunt:
"Do enough people in Montreal give a damn if the Expos stay
or go? In the months since the stadium project and the
deadline were first made public, the answer has seemed to be
no. There hasn't been the sense of urgency, of crisis, that
went with the Jets' departure from Winnipeg, or the Oilers'
struggles. Interest in the Expos, if you judge by the
turnstile count, is at a low ebb" (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/11).
