MudSnakes
11-29-2004, 05:37 PM
The sale of SkyDome to Rogers has gone through. I can't believe how cheaply they got it for.
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TORONTO (CP) - The owners of the Toronto Blue Jays have bought SkyDome for $25 million, a fraction of the domed stadium's original price tag.
"A very fair price," Paul Godfrey, president and CEO of the Jays, acknowledged at a news conference Monday. "We're not inheriting any debt whatsoever," he added. Rogers Communications is buying SkyDome from Sportsco International, a Chicago-based group of investors that bought SkyDome out of bankruptcy court in April 1999 for about $80 million.
The 50,000-seat venue opened in 1989 at a cost of $600 million, mostly funded by taxpayers.
"Now everything from parking and concessions to buying tickets to the building itself will all be in the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays themselves," said Godfrey.
Godfrey said the team is looking at a new artificial playing surface and a new Jumbotron screen among changes aimed at a "better in-game experience."
Naming rights now belong to Rogers. Godfrey said no decision had been made yet on that, but acknowledged the issue will be looked at.
The Jays now finally join the other 29 Major League Baseball clubs who operate their stadiums. Control of SkyDome gives the Jays better access to stadium revenues from parking and concessions, among other sources.
Godfrey said the stadium purchase will also allow them to pursue other entertainment options, such as concerts, to fill the building.
The sale is expected to close in December. And the price is right. The Jays paid star first baseman Carlos Delgado $19.7 million US last season, which translates into some $23 million Cdn.
The ball club, meanwhile, inched closer to profitability last season. The Jays will likely post an operating loss of somewhere between $7 million and $8 million for 2004 - boosted by league revenue sharing, a higher Canadian dollar and a slimmer payroll.
That's less than half the near-$18 million the club lost in 2003.
The Jays' financial improvement came as the team's on-field performance skidded. The team finished with a disappointing 67-94 record, placing it last in the AL East, after an 86-win season in 2003.
Off the field, the loonie is proving lucky for the Jays. The Canadian dollar traded at 84.59 cents US Monday morning, which is significant for the Jays since player salaries are paid in American dollars. The company can now buy U.S. greenbacks to reduce a foreign-exchange loss on salaries paid next season.
SkyDome, meanwhile, will lose the Toronto Argonauts as a tenant when the CFL club moves into its new 25,000-seat outdoor stadium for the 2006 season.
When SkyDome opened in 1989, it was the envy of the baseball world - a state-of-the-art facility that continually packed in more than 50,000 fans a game. The Jays broke baseball records with more than four million fans per season in '91, '92 and '93.
Last season the Jays drew 23,455 per game, its highest average in five years.
As it turns out, SkyDome was among the last of its kind. Baseball moved back to more traditional-looking stadiums - such as Camden Yards in Baltimore, Jacobs Field in Cleveland and The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas - and multipurpose facilities gave way to specialty stadiums.
(Source: msn.ca (http://sports.sympatico.msn.ca/Home/ContentPosting.aspx?feedname=CP-AllSports&newsitemid=28143022))
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TORONTO (CP) - The owners of the Toronto Blue Jays have bought SkyDome for $25 million, a fraction of the domed stadium's original price tag.
"A very fair price," Paul Godfrey, president and CEO of the Jays, acknowledged at a news conference Monday. "We're not inheriting any debt whatsoever," he added. Rogers Communications is buying SkyDome from Sportsco International, a Chicago-based group of investors that bought SkyDome out of bankruptcy court in April 1999 for about $80 million.
The 50,000-seat venue opened in 1989 at a cost of $600 million, mostly funded by taxpayers.
"Now everything from parking and concessions to buying tickets to the building itself will all be in the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays themselves," said Godfrey.
Godfrey said the team is looking at a new artificial playing surface and a new Jumbotron screen among changes aimed at a "better in-game experience."
Naming rights now belong to Rogers. Godfrey said no decision had been made yet on that, but acknowledged the issue will be looked at.
The Jays now finally join the other 29 Major League Baseball clubs who operate their stadiums. Control of SkyDome gives the Jays better access to stadium revenues from parking and concessions, among other sources.
Godfrey said the stadium purchase will also allow them to pursue other entertainment options, such as concerts, to fill the building.
The sale is expected to close in December. And the price is right. The Jays paid star first baseman Carlos Delgado $19.7 million US last season, which translates into some $23 million Cdn.
The ball club, meanwhile, inched closer to profitability last season. The Jays will likely post an operating loss of somewhere between $7 million and $8 million for 2004 - boosted by league revenue sharing, a higher Canadian dollar and a slimmer payroll.
That's less than half the near-$18 million the club lost in 2003.
The Jays' financial improvement came as the team's on-field performance skidded. The team finished with a disappointing 67-94 record, placing it last in the AL East, after an 86-win season in 2003.
Off the field, the loonie is proving lucky for the Jays. The Canadian dollar traded at 84.59 cents US Monday morning, which is significant for the Jays since player salaries are paid in American dollars. The company can now buy U.S. greenbacks to reduce a foreign-exchange loss on salaries paid next season.
SkyDome, meanwhile, will lose the Toronto Argonauts as a tenant when the CFL club moves into its new 25,000-seat outdoor stadium for the 2006 season.
When SkyDome opened in 1989, it was the envy of the baseball world - a state-of-the-art facility that continually packed in more than 50,000 fans a game. The Jays broke baseball records with more than four million fans per season in '91, '92 and '93.
Last season the Jays drew 23,455 per game, its highest average in five years.
As it turns out, SkyDome was among the last of its kind. Baseball moved back to more traditional-looking stadiums - such as Camden Yards in Baltimore, Jacobs Field in Cleveland and The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas - and multipurpose facilities gave way to specialty stadiums.
(Source: msn.ca (http://sports.sympatico.msn.ca/Home/ContentPosting.aspx?feedname=CP-AllSports&newsitemid=28143022))