Quote:
Originally Posted by fleury
While I don't agree, I don't necessarily disagree on your view of Rogers' stance.
Toronto generally pays for good performance. With the Jays though, if the Jays made all these deals last November, I'm not convinced the fans would've had the same turnout as they did when most the deals were made at the deadline and just came out of nowhere. It was a shock effect and it wasn't expected in the least. Whether it continues into next season, as good as ticket sales were this year, I wouldn't be surprised if fans regress a little bit.
Secondly, the effect of the USD. Surely Rogers hedges against this, but how much and when? The currency exchange is likely killing them right now as I don't imagine they banked a lot of that hedging last year, knowing the dollar was going to tank. Just think about it for a second. They lose 30% for every dollar they spend right now, because they have to pay in US funds. On that alone I don't blame them for being a little cheap. It's hard to keep up with the Jones', if you're in such a tough economic situation. Which brings me to my third point - risk...
Rogers is a corporation. They're responsible to their shareholders to bring value. Surely this year was very valuable to shareholders based on ticket sales, merchandise and playoff revenue. That is undeniable. However, this is a sport and especially baseball, is so difficult to make the playoffs. Say the Jays poured Bosox money this year again and they didn't make it, suddenly shareholders are pissed that there was no good ROI. Look at it from the perspective of the CEO. How do you forecast to your shareholders what the expected income will be the following quarter if much of your estimate is on how a sports property is performing? It's a tough sell. Corporate ownership in sports sucks, because they're responsible first to the shareholder, then second the fan. At least private ownership by some old rich guy means greater risk propositions, because it's play money.
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If Rogers showed an actual commitment to winning a championship in a continual basis and the Jays played im a normal sized stadium (30k), they'd sell out every night. The day of the mega stadium is over. They actually hurt attendance becaus their is no incentive to buy game packs or season tickets because you can just walk up any game you want and get a ticket.
That said there's nothing we Can do about the stadium. It is what it is. With the Jays you just can't look at the butts in the seats at Rogers Centre. They sell their merchandise and broadcast their games to an entire nation. The revenue bump from that this year will be ridiculous.