A good way to start would be to learn any lessons from the mistakes that the previous owners made and think of a way to resolve those issues so that there won't be a repetition. Repeating a post earlier about how all four previous private owners were mentioned in an article about the top 25 BC Lions personalities and finding out their mistakes.....
Owner #1 - MURRAY PEZIM
Pezim is one of 120 members inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, though he was never a candidate for inclusion in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Still, the butcher turned gold mining promoter was willing to strip and wave a huge orange mitten that looked like a Lions paw to promote his team. It was like having Don Rickles in the owner’s suite. He signed ex-New York Giants defensive end Mark Gastineau to become a Lions superstar and promoted him as the next heavyweight boxing champion. The Pez was wrong about that one, but he did get it right by realizing the potential box office appeal of Doug Flutie. Las Vegas was Pezim’s natural environment, not the CFL. Tired of the circus act, the league revoked Pezim’s ownership and took control of the team on Aug. 27, 1992 after Pezim refused to pay off debts and creditors.
So the biggest mistake is.....if you know that Doug Flutie is the #1 asset in terms of ticket sales then do whatever you can to retain him and outbid any other CFL owner which Pezim couldn't do as he allowed Larry Ryckman to outbid him.
And instead of taking your chances when it comes to defence by bringing in Mark Gastineau who has long passed his prime....use your money to retain existing and proven all-stars like Alondra Johnson and Willie Pless - losing those two to Alberta rivals resulted in an absolutely terrible defence.
Owner #2 - BILL COMRIE
At 19, after playing major junior with the Moose Jaw Canucks and Edmonton Oil Kings, Comrie decided to abandon his hockey career and join his father’s furniture business, creating what is now The Brick Warehouse Corporation. Having proven himself as an astute businessman, he thought he could be an astute sports owner. Three weeks after previous owner Murray Pezim declared bankruptcy in 1992, Cromie bought the Lions. Two years later, the team won a championship under the direction of head coach Dave Ritchie and general manager Eric Tillman when the Lions defeated the Baltimore Stallions in the first Canada vs. USA Grey Cup game. In March, 1996, however, wearied by the team’s chronic financial instability, Cromie sold out to a group of 10 local businessmen headed by Nelson Skalbania and Michael Jensen.
Bill Comrie found out that apparently having a lot of free giveaways and improving their defence to win a championship is still not good enough to increase attendance and must have lost a lot of money in his 3.5 years as owner with the team. Better stick with furniture and not football.
Owner #3 - NELSON SKALBANIA
The flamboyant real estate flipper from Vancouver (seen on the left) is best-known for signing 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky when he was owner of the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association. Over a span of 10 years, in the 1970s, Skalbania owned hotels, shopping centres, apartment buildings and sports teams, including the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Alouettes, Vancouver Canadians, Memphis Rogues and Calgary Boomers. He was instrumental in the move of the Atlanta Flames to Calgary. His final foray into sports ownership came with the Lions in 1996, but Skalbania developed a case of the shorts and was forced to hand over control to a receiver after only six months.
Too many bad things can be said about him so I can simply summarize everything by saying.....
Owner #4 - DAVID BRALEY
Late in 1996, with the Lions orphaned by Nelson Skalbania and his group and the CFL hanging on life support, Hamilton businessman David Braley rescued west coast football when the Vancouver corporate community was seized by a collective case of wallet-clutching. Two of the Lions’ five Grey Cups -- 2000 and 2006 -- have come under Braley’s stewardship. His willingness to withstand large financial hits kept Lions football going during the bleak years before the arrival of Bob Ackles in 2002 and Wally Buono a year later. Since ‘03, the Lions have never won fewer than 11 games and the present couldn’t be much better. B.C. has won four straight West Division pennants. The franchise is moving closer to the situation of the mid-1980s, when the Lions sold 30,000 season tickets and averaged more than 40,000 fans per game during the honeymoon phase of B.C. Place.
It's hard to criticize any mistakes he did, but I suppose a good example was that he took over the team when they were in the dark ages from 1996 to 2002 with attendance was often less than 20,000 and just like Comrie and his 1994 team, a 2000 championship did not increase attendance. Best move he ever made was hiring Wally Buono and increasing attendance. Nevertheless, attendance under his many years still cannot compare with 1991 and the mid-1980's.
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Being a football owner will likely bring about a conflict of interest with the team, with the fans, and with your own personal business/investment. Going by the old saying: "Offence buys tickets, Defence wins games" then would you be happier with a season like 1991 or would you rather have a season like 1994, 2000, and even 2006?