Lions ownership discussion thread (Topics merged into here)

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The_Pauser
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
You always speak against the Aquilini family. I always say I don't mind them. I don't regret them owning the Canucks. Deep pockets. Committed ownership. The value of their team is high. They have contended for the Stanley Cup. Sellouts. They are solid owners. Let's not go round and round. I like the sound of Sidoo.
Yes because I prefer ownership that actually cares about the team and isn't going to meddle in the actual football operations. I also prefer ownership to be someone who doesn't have questionable character.
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WestCoastJoe
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The_Pauser wrote:
WestCoastJoe wrote:
You always speak against the Aquilini family. I always say I don't mind them. I don't regret them owning the Canucks. Deep pockets. Committed ownership. The value of their team is high. They have contended for the Stanley Cup. Sellouts. They are solid owners. Let's not go round and round. I like the sound of Sidoo.
Yes because I prefer ownership that actually cares about the team and isn't going to meddle in the actual football operations. I also prefer ownership to be someone who doesn't have questionable character.
Round it goes. I have heard your views on Aquilini a few times. I don't quote you on it, unless you happen to quote me. We see it differently. Between us, quoting each other, the first and the last word on the Aquilini family can be yours.

Sidoo #1 I like what I hear.

Aquilini #2 This sports fan would not mind him as owner or co-owner of the Lions.

Must be others out there also, that this fan would find acceptable.
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Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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David
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Just to clarify guys, Farhan said that 4 local groups are interested, among which is Aquilini and Sidoo. I inferred that this would potentially be joint bid. This is a very good thing, IMO. We've seen how well the Calgary Flames/Stamps cross-marketing efforts have been. The best thing about it is they're local and understand the market and its unique challenges.

God bless David Braley for buying the club when it was teetering. He's made 2 terrific hires (Ackles and Buono), won 3 Cups and paid all the bills. But it's time. I have never experienced a time in Lions history when a winning, exciting football team does not bring about more fans in the seats. Hard to imagine things getting worse with a new owner.


DH :cool:
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Rocko604
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Sidoo would be a good choice, but does he have deep enough pockets on his own or would he need to bring a group of minority owners? I know people have said he wouldn't try to meddle with the football ops like people expect Aquilini would, but Sidoo did play football. It was because of him that Blake Nill came to UBC, not the Athletic Director. So I would expect him to be as hands on as possible, or at least see him hire his own adviser.

Aquilini doesn't really scare me that much, so long as they understand that the CFL isn't a money-printing business. The Canucks are night and day compared to when McCaw owned them. And given the fact they're local, I can't see them running into the ground either. The cross promotion with the Canucks also wouldn't be a bad thing, plus they would have the money and marketing capabilities to try to attract the 20s crowd.
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Sir Purrcival
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I'm not so sure that having both eggs in one basket would be a good thing. In many ways, the Lions are already the Canuck's poor cousin. Imagine if you will having an ownership group that has to take care of two sports enterprises. One that is it's flagship, and the other that is more like a hobby. Where do you think the marketing dollars, the hype, the dedication is going to be focused? I could see that scenario resulting in disaster for the Lions. Look at the challenges that they have had in the past where ownership didn't really seem to be in it whole heartedly. It took an out of province buyer who loved the CFL to put a very shaky franchise back on track.
In a city where the media seems as inclined to talk about the Canuck's 5th round picks in July as they do the Lions, I would have great fear that the Lions would get even shorter shrift than they do now. The only way I could see it working would be if the Acquilini's were willing to leverage greater attention to the Lion's via the Canucks. I think they would have to be great lovers of the CFL or the Lions to be willing to do that and if there has ever been any such interest from the Nuck's ownership, I am unaware of it.
Could it work, maybe but I am convinced that good ownership for this team is going to have to fight and scrape and work tirelessly to sell this product and make it more attractive to consumers. I can't see that happening if the owners are also looking after the Canucks who are the big sports ticket in this town. I think we will need another Brailey type or some combination owner group of dedicated fans. Only people who know this game and know it's fans are going to be able to keep the franchise healthy.
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SammyGreene
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TSN's Gary Lawless:
Just spoke to @BCLions owner David Braley. He will speak to prospective buyers over the off-season but, "I'm in no rush. If I sell, I sell."
If he is waiting for that $35 million offer his 80th birthday will come first.
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The_Pauser
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Rocko604 wrote:Sidoo would be a good choice, but does he have deep enough pockets on his own or would he need to bring a group of minority owners? I know people have said he wouldn't try to meddle with the football ops like people expect Aquilini would, but Sidoo did play football. It was because of him that Blake Nill came to UBC, not the Athletic Director. So I would expect him to be as hands on as possible, or at least see him hire his own adviser.

Aquilini doesn't really scare me that much, so long as they understand that the CFL isn't a money-printing business. The Canucks are night and day compared to when McCaw owned them. And given the fact they're local, I can't see them running into the ground either. The cross promotion with the Canucks also wouldn't be a bad thing, plus they would have the money and marketing capabilities to try to attract the 20s crowd.
The Aquilini's are running the Canucks into the ground! How can you be so confident that they would be good owners of the Lions?

I honestly can't believe there are so many people here who are openly saying they are OK with ownership that would potentially be worse than the Gliebermans. It's lunacy.
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SammyGreene wrote:TSN's Gary Lawless:
Just spoke to @BCLions owner David Braley. He will speak to prospective buyers over the off-season but, "I'm in no rush. If I sell, I sell."
If he is waiting for that $35 million offer his 80th birthday will come first.
I am not going to hold my breath waiting on a sale. He obviously is feeling no urgency to sell, whatever external pressure exists to sell isn't going to be enough to force his hand and he has proven he is adept at waiting out potential suitors. Based on earlier pronouncements, he seemed to be far more willing to offload the team before now. Now...I think this will be quite protracted before any sale occurs.

Personally I think with the multitude of challenges the team faces in this market, a local ownership group is a must and vital to the team improving its relevance in the lower mainland. Braley has obviously done a world of good for the team, that no one can deny. But things with attendance have obviously gone way downhill and this regime seems completely lost as to how to stem the tide. Fresh blood is needed, there appears to be too much dysfunction in the administrative side and too many thin-skins who can't handle having an open discussion of attendance amongst fans or the media.

IMO a guy like Sidoo represents what would be an excellent start for the club becoming re-engaged with the community; a football background with business experience and contacts with non-profits in and around Vancouver. A younger guy who has multi-generational ties with the team and an obvious passion for football in Vancouver. Plus he is representative of a diverse Vancouver...sorry but I can't connect with some dude from Hamilton, even with his resume of PAST success with the team.

But I believe a team-ownership approach is needed; just to accumulate as much talent as possible to deal with this issue of declining attendance. In fact, I hope the new owners (who ever they be) avoid hiring "football" people who have some or a modicum of experience with fan engagement. I want the ultimate person responsible for fan engagement and building the numbers to be just that and nothing else. At this critical juncture, whether they have a football background or not is really beside the point IMO. Just get bums in seats!
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The_Pauser wrote:
Rocko604 wrote:Sidoo would be a good choice, but does he have deep enough pockets on his own or would he need to bring a group of minority owners? I know people have said he wouldn't try to meddle with the football ops like people expect Aquilini would, but Sidoo did play football. It was because of him that Blake Nill came to UBC, not the Athletic Director. So I would expect him to be as hands on as possible, or at least see him hire his own adviser.

Aquilini doesn't really scare me that much, so long as they understand that the CFL isn't a money-printing business. The Canucks are night and day compared to when McCaw owned them. And given the fact they're local, I can't see them running into the ground either. The cross promotion with the Canucks also wouldn't be a bad thing, plus they would have the money and marketing capabilities to try to attract the 20s crowd.
The Aquilini's are running the Canucks into the ground! How can you be so confident that they would be good owners of the Lions?

I honestly can't believe there are so many people here who are openly saying they are OK with ownership that would potentially be worse than the Gliebermans. It's lunacy.

As I recall when Aquilini was negotiating to buy the Canucks from McCaw, he had a couple of partners but he (Aquilini) decided to screw his partners and made a seperate deal on his own. Aquilini would not be my choice as the next Lions owner.

Braley probably owned the Argos for longer than he had planned or wanted but he had the patience to find the right new owners. Hopefully he makes the right decision for the new owners of the Lions.
Rocko604
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The_Pauser wrote:
Rocko604 wrote:Sidoo would be a good choice, but does he have deep enough pockets on his own or would he need to bring a group of minority owners? I know people have said he wouldn't try to meddle with the football ops like people expect Aquilini would, but Sidoo did play football. It was because of him that Blake Nill came to UBC, not the Athletic Director. So I would expect him to be as hands on as possible, or at least see him hire his own adviser.

Aquilini doesn't really scare me that much, so long as they understand that the CFL isn't a money-printing business. The Canucks are night and day compared to when McCaw owned them. And given the fact they're local, I can't see them running into the ground either. The cross promotion with the Canucks also wouldn't be a bad thing, plus they would have the money and marketing capabilities to try to attract the 20s crowd.
The Aquilini's are running the Canucks into the ground! How can you be so confident that they would be good owners of the Lions?

I honestly can't believe there are so many people here who are openly saying they are OK with ownership that would potentially be worse than the Gliebermans. It's lunacy.
Well, BC already employs their Trevor Linden equivalent in Geroy Simon. As long as they don't make him president and don't hire a lame duck GM, we'll be in good shape! :beauty:
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saw this today:


Roar Report ‏@RoarReport
@garylawless if he donates to yet another hamilton-area athletic facility i'm going to freakout. last 5yrs, $25M+profits ALL going east
#cfl
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David
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The_Pauser wrote:The Aquilini's are running the Canucks into the ground!
And Braley is running the Lions into a growing, thriving operation?? :dizzy:


DH :cool:
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JohnHenry
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The trend in the CFL ownership seems to be in conjunction with a hockey team. Their season's don't overlap that much, providing year-round employment for the marketing and administration staff. Football in the summer and hockey in the winter has been a staple of Canadian sports fans for over 100 years.

The Flames bought the Stamps in Calgary; The RedBlacks teaming up with 67's and Fury in Ottawa; Two of MLSE's principals in Toronto buying the Argos; and now the Canucks buying the Lions? The synergy's are obvious.

I think the Canucks running the Lions would be a positive for the football team in this market. While Aquilini's actions during the Canuck's purchase process were perhaps a bit unsavoury, they did successfully buy team. While I haven't followed the Canucks for many years (basically since Pat Quinn was the coach) the team seems like a well run organization. If they let the football people run the football operation without too much meddling, I don't see a problem here. Only improved marketing and prestige for the Lions being aligned with the most popular sports league in Canada.

I'm not familiar with Sidoo but with his success in business and passion for football, he would likely make a good local owner for the Lions too.

There's also the possibility of offers from groups outside Vancouver (Braley said he had 14 parties who'd expressed interest in the Lions a while back). While it would be ideal to find a local owner, there may be someone come out of the woodwork who could blow everybody away and resurrect the Lions franchise back into the forefront of Vancouver's sports market. :thup:
snackdaddy
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Want to know why the Aquilini's are scum in my opinion.

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Aqui ... story.html

When you put your workers in such risk the WCB fines you $125 000 you are a giant ass hat...for those who do not know to get WCB to fine you such a large amount you basically have to tell them to pound sand a few times (unless someone dies then all watch out....)

If thats how he treats his workers how we he treat his fans

I would like to know the other 3 interested parties..
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The_Pauser
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JohnHenry wrote:The trend in the CFL ownership seems to be in conjunction with a hockey team. Their season's don't overlap that much, providing year-round employment for the marketing and administration staff. Football in the summer and hockey in the winter has been a staple of Canadian sports fans for over 100 years.

The Flames bought the Stamps in Calgary; The RedBlacks teaming up with 67's and Fury in Ottawa; Two of MLSE's principals in Toronto buying the Argos; and now the Canucks buying the Lions? The synergy's are obvious.

I think the Canucks running the Lions would be a positive for the football team in this market. While Aquilini's actions during the Canuck's purchase process were perhaps a bit unsavoury, they did successfully buy team. While I haven't followed the Canucks for many years (basically since Pat Quinn was the coach) the team seems like a well run organization. If they let the football people run the football operation without too much meddling, I don't see a problem here. Only improved marketing and prestige for the Lions being aligned with the most popular sports league in Canada.

I'm not familiar with Sidoo but with his success in business and passion for football, he would likely make a good local owner for the Lions too.

There's also the possibility of offers from groups outside Vancouver (Braley said he had 14 parties who'd expressed interest in the Lions a while back). While it would be ideal to find a local owner, there may be someone come out of the woodwork who could blow everybody away and resurrect the Lions franchise back into the forefront of Vancouver's sports market. :thup:
Sorry to say but you're way off when you claim the Canucks are a well run organization. The Canucks are now the laughingstock of the NHL with how they are run, as an organization without a direction. Frank Aquilini reportedly acted like a complete embarrassment during the 2011 Stanley Cup finals run, and reportedly has been meddling with the team ever since. Remember the Feterik's in Calgary? Remember the Glieberman's in Ottawa? Why do we want to go through that here?

I get the appeal of having the owner of our hockey team own the Lions, and I get the appeal of someone with deep pockets, but c'mon people, let's not vouch for guys who are of questionable character. The family only cares about profits. I want someone who cares about the football team to own it, not someone who thinks it's an investment that will beef up their bank account.
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