Dual Owner David Braley

[Luke]

I wonder how much pressure David Braley will be under going forward to sell either the Lions (most likely) or the Argonauts? I don't think the CFL likes the idea of one man owning two teams. I think Mark Cohon was willing to live with it because it was the least worst option when Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon decided to get out, but I think this off-season might be the time for Braley to sell the Leos.

Personally, I think with the renovations to BC Place Stadium and with the obvious upside of the current Lions core, the future of the franchise looks very bright right now. Thoughts?

[WestCoastJoe]

IMO Senator Braley pretty much runs the CFL. He chooses the Commissioner. I don't think there is any embarrassment factor in one person owning more than one team in the CFL, a league which has unique qualities.

However I do think Braley would like to sell the Lions, and focus on bringing the Argonauts franchise to life.

The problem has always been finding the right local owner, with enough money, and more importantly, the necessary passion, patience, and pro sports acumen to buy the Lions.

Skalbania was a disaster. So was Pezim. Comrie was not local. Pattison has no interest, and is too old. Braley will eventually find his man.

[joe kapp22]

I suspect the league would like to see David Braley engineer the same sort of turnaround in Toronto that he has in BC so Cohon and Co do not mind what Braley does as long as he can get that accomplished.

For Braley's part, the travel between the two cities surely must be taxing to him personally added in with his other interests, from a logistics standpoint I'm sure he'd like to sell BC.

[Rammer]

I saw a recent clip about Mr. Braley and he said he loved owning the Lions and planned on keeping the team for many more seasons. Of course, that could all change with the right offer, but I don't think there is much urgency for him to sell the team. There was speculation last year that a consortium of local investors, lead by Skulsky and the Waterboys, were interested in buying the team.

Wait until after the Grey Cup, Braley has to show the interest in the team at least until then for optics sake. Not that he doesn't like the Lions, but GC is a revenue generator and if you look at Braley acquiring teams, I don't think that any would be very far removed from hosting a GC. That said, Braley certainly earns my respect for taking on the Lions when he did, and for that matter the Argos as well, both franchises at the time of purchase were at the brink of disaster. Also remember the acquisition prerequisite, buy low, sell high.

[CatsEyes]

Guess he'll be keeping the Argos for a while then

[black ace]

There has been all sorts of speculation about new ownership groups. The waterboys was one, Hadi Abassi from Nanimo who owns the Vancouver Island Raiders was another and Robert Bosa of Burnaby was also rumoured.

imo if he really wants to sell the Lions something will happen this off-season.

The Argos will suck until they find a Buono and more importantly a Bob Ackles.

[Belize City Lion]

A few months ago I heard an interview with David Braley and he said he didn't expect to sell either team for "at least 5 years", he then went on to say that would be around the time he is ready to retire from business altogether.

The optics of 1 person owning 2 teams is not great, but I think the commissioner and the rest of the league governors are just happy to have stable ownership in Toronto for the time being.

[Ravi]

This year Braley has started Toronto's version of the Waterboys: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/f ... le2181103/

Will this work as well in Toronto as it has in Vancouver? I sure hope so.

[cromartie]

A few months ago I heard an interview with David Braley and he said he didn't expect to sell either team for "at least 5 years", he then went on to say that would be around the time he is ready to retire from business altogether.

The optics of 1 person owning 2 teams is not great, but I think the commissioner and the rest of the league governors are just happy to have stable ownership in Toronto for the time being.

That interview was at halftime of the game at Empire, as I recall.

Braley thinks it will take about five years to turn the Argos around as a business organization and get them on a similar path to where the Lions are. Part of that process, as Ravi correctly mentions, is to get a Waterboy like group up and running. I would imagine he would own them until then.

As for the Lions, business wise the ship is more or less righted, even if things aren't purrfect. It generates some degree of revenue and I think, compared to where the club was this time last decade, it's humming along more or less, so why sell when there's no pressure to?

[Toppy Vann]

To the CFL it is just be thankful this man cares enough about football and this league to do what he has done which is a thankless thing given that he opens himself up for criticism with two teams. He is not a meddling owner unlike the Lions Bill Comrie who publicly stated that he had the dumbest coach in the CFL. We hardly need the likes of the Glibermans in Ottawa or the Calgary debacle back again.

Fans must take care of what they wish for. Fans wanted outdoors - got it and found that in a smaller venue the ticket prices were up. Yes, just like hockey with limited seating, the tickets will get market rated. Prices rarely ever go down.

There likely hasn't been a single other person who has given so much and got so little return on his money than this owner. We should be cheering this guy and if he wants to wait five years to sell good on him.

I just want to see him hold his GM's feet closer to the fire than he has until Skulsky did it for him.

[geroy_simon_081]

I believe in the next two year Braley will sell off the Lions.
He stands to make a nice tidy profit with the Grey Cup, and I believe that was one of the big reasons why he didn't sell the Lions previously.
With the new stadium and coming off a Grey Cup, it would be the best time to sell especially since there's local people interesting in owning the franchise. The Lions are once again strong and don't really need Braley.

I think ultimately Braley will want to focus on the argos and try to bring them up to a point were they're a bit more relevant in Toronto, draw better and bring them close to profitability. Once that happens the team can be sold to someone who has the passion and energy to do some exciting things in that market. Braley has stated he's not going to own either team in 5 years.

[almo89]

Sometimes I ask how good of an owner is David Braley. I mean he saved the BC Lions and I know we are very lucky to have him as our owner. When he bought the Lions in the late 90s, I don't think anybody really cared about the CFL or the Lions, but if it wasn't for Bobby Ackles coming back to plant the seeds, would the Lions have really turned things around financially? Does Toronto have a Bobby Ackles like guy to run the team? I really hope so. Toronto is a big market and it's sad to see them draw less than 20k. Too bad they can't move into BMO field either because that would have been a purrfect place to play and it would have a Montreal like atmosphere.