MLSE almost ready to name new President and CEO

[__wowza]

^ I bet the genius executives that pushed that one make many times the average Rogers employees wage, because they are supposedly "talent," whereas the ordinary employees who could quickly see it wasn't working are just "resources."

which is funny because any rogers employee could've told you this wouldn't have worked. we had a 2 day training session on game center, half of it was explaining how to pitch the value for the cost only to find out the fuckin thing would be made free within a month anyways. after that we got a quiz from our manager because they found out an auditor was coming in to do one on ones to test our product knowledge. the auditor asked me how i felt about game center, and whether or not i was excited for it, and i was blunt. the conversation went as followed:

me: not really. i can watch games anytime i want. if it was a playoff game, i'd probably make a point to be at home and if i was stuck somewhere, it'd probably be somewhere i wouldn't have access to my cell or tablet like work. if i was out with my girlfriend or friends they'd understand a playoff game was on and we wouldn't be out. they know the drill.

auditor: (chuckles) well, you said you and your girlfriend don't have cable, so wouldn't you be able to see the value in edging (ie: making sure the customer leaves the store with something so) this over a traditional cable package?

me: i stream games illegally.

auditor: but the quality can't be that great.

me: compared to what, HD? i don't care. i want to see a game and at the end of the day you're competing with FREE. that's what you have to contend with, with my generation, you have to contend with FREE. with me thinking 'wow, my paycheque is pretty small this week. should i spend it on a service from rogers.. and to be honest most of the people i talk to all day think we're already ripping them off anyways.. or should i get it for FREE because i can google 'watch bruins hockey online' and have fifty links come up.. hmmmmm..

not to sound like a bitter ex-employee, but i was one of the people let go specifically because i was more customer service than sales (something i told my manager before i got hired). i would be the asshole who said things like "dude, you told me you watch stuff online. why are you paying $45 a month for a cable hookup when you can just upgrade your internet to unlimited for $15 a month? BOOM! i just saved you $360 a year."

Never understood the idea of pushing sports on phones and tablets. Who has ever watched a live hockey game on their phone?! I get that for Rogers, it'd be a fantastic "synergy" (just threw up a little in my mouth) of their various services, but you can't force people to do something they have no utility for, through sheer will of advertising.

that's where rogers lost the plot. they stressed "value for quality" as their selling point a couple months into my year long stint there. that's business speak for "you're paying a lot, but look at all this other cool stuff you could get (if you pay for it)!". it's good to have in the back pocket, but known your limitations. i'm sure 95% of the population would rather have a cheaper cell phone/internet/cable package than 50 different services. i had to up sell EIGHT different things every time i spoke to someone, before i was let go. EIGHT. if you came in to get your broken cell looked at i had to drop the following questions:

- do you pay for your bills using your credit card? (rogers mastercard)
- does anyone in your house follow hockey? (rogers game center)
- are you planning on travelling anytime soon? (to the states: rogers stripes which is a pretty good service to be fair) (elsewhere: long distance value pack)
- do you have any other services with rogers? (rogers internet/cable/home phone/smart home monitoring/cell phones depending on which you didn't have)
- do you know when your contract ends? (rogers cell)
- have you heard about our smart home monitoring system? (rogers SHM)
- and whatever promotion we had going on at the time in the form of a question.

just because you came into the store to get your cell phone sent for repair. if we got a secret shopper, and we didn't ask each of these questions, we took shit from our managers because they would take shit from their district managers. fuck man.. they took out the bill payment machines at our store because the district manager felt we should be "engaging every customer" (ie: trying to pitch to people who were in the store solely to pay a bill). sorry, end rant.

[Richard]

^^^^Very enlightening, and wow do we need some real competition to get these telecommunication giants set straight.

[__wowza]

^^^^Very enlightening, and wow do we need some real competition to get these telecommunication giants set straight.

if you ever need to see how much telecom in this country needs to change with the lang and o'leary exchange with naguib onsi sawiris, he was the president of orascom telecom media who owned WIND mobile. i'll paraphrase and sum up what he said:

"fuck this country. you claim you're a capitalist society but your government fucks you. i try and come in here and provide a better service for cheaper prices, then rogers and bell run to your government and go 'oh help! help! he's stealing canadian jobs!' and my company gets taxed out the ass until we can't remain competitive anymore. if rogers and bell are so great, why can't they exist outside of your country? my company operates worldwide, so does vodaphone and virgin. you know why? because we're competitive. if rogers and bell tried to move outside of your country they would fail with what they're offering you right now because they don't understand how to run a competitive business in a free market and need the government to protect them whenever a foreign owned business wants to offer YOUR people a better service. what would happen if the government didn't interfere? they would have to drop their prices to challenge us, but they aren't prepared to do that so they cry 'canadian jobs!'. i wish we'd never come here."

for those of you wondering why WIND cell phones don't work in certain areas.. those are the frequencies and cell towers he's talking about rogers/bell buying.
it was probably the most biting thing i've ever seen. have a look if you've got six minutes.

[TFC07]

if you ever need to see how much telecom in this country needs to change with the lang and o'leary exchange with naguib onsi sawiris, he was the president of orascom telecom media who owned WIND mobile. i'll paraphrase and sum up what he said:

"fuck this country. you claim you're a capitalist society but your government fucks you. i try and come in here and provide a better service for cheaper prices, then rogers and bell run to your government and go 'oh help! help! he's stealing canadian jobs!' and my company gets taxed out the ass until we can't remain competitive anymore. if rogers and bell are so great, why can't they exist outside of your country? my company operates worldwide, so does vodaphone and virgin. you know why? because we're competitive. if rogers and bell tried to move outside of your country they would fail with what they're offering you right now because they don't understand how to run a competitive business in a free market and need the government to protect them whenever a foreign owned business wants to offer YOUR people a better service. what would happen if the government didn't interfere? they would have to drop their prices to challenge us, but they aren't prepared to do that so they cry 'canadian jobs!'. i wish we'd never come here."

it was probably the most biting thing i've ever seen. have a look if you've got six minutes.

Yup, I remember seeing this interview.

Did you remember when Verizon was flirting about buying WIND and how Big 3 got together whine to government while spent millions on advertisement saying how "Canadian jobs" (you know like those Bell Call Centres in India) will be affected by Verizon invasion into Canada?

[Beach_Red]

if you ever need to see how much telecom in this country needs to change with the lang and o'leary exchange with naguib onsi sawiris, he was the president of orascom telecom media who owned WIND mobile. i'll paraphrase and sum up what he said:

"fuck this country. you claim you're a capitalist society but your government fucks you. i try and come in here and provide a better service for cheaper prices, then rogers and bell run to your government and go 'oh help! help! he's stealing canadian jobs!' and my company gets taxed out the ass until we can't remain competitive anymore. if rogers and bell are so great, why can't they exist outside of your country? my company operates worldwide, so does vodaphone and virgin. you know why? because we're competitive. if rogers and bell tried to move outside of your country they would fail with what they're offering you right now because they don't understand how to run a competitive business in a free market and need the government to protect them whenever a foreign owned business wants to offer YOUR people a better service. what would happen if the government didn't interfere? they would have to drop their prices to challenge us, but they aren't prepared to do that so they cry 'canadian jobs!'. i wish we'd never come here."

for those of you wondering why WIND cell phones don't work in certain areas.. those are the frequencies and cell towers he's talking about rogers/bell buying.
it was probably the most biting thing i've ever seen. have a look if you've got six minutes.

This also why their sports teams can't win.

[brad]

I remember they used to have some sort of Internet over 3G hub they tried to sell. It was exactly what the iPhone Hotspot does for free. Rogers folks were under instruction to try and sell those to iPhone customers and were not allowed to talk about the iPhone hotspot at all. How is that for shady - trying to sell you a product you don't need - when you already have something that does exactly the same thing.

I got screwed by them years ago. I switched from Bell ExpressVu to Rogers, and they were running a promo. Turn in your ExpressVu receiver and get a free PVR for life. I did that, got it free for a year and then they started billing me. They said it was a year promo only and denied all existence of a PVR for life promo. Unfortunate I was young and dumb and didn't keep the contract. I read a couple of years later they took an absolute bath on that promo and they took every on off it and were under strict instructions to deny it ever existed.

[reggie]

according to fredman its john cassaday

[TFC07]

according to fredman its john cassaday

Isn't he kind of old to be CEO and President of MLSE? I am sure Rogers and Bell were looking for someone younger.

[OgtheDim]

Apparently TSN first reported him as being an option back in the fall before he retired from Corus. As reports are nobody with a sports conglomerate background wanted the job, he must have been lobbying for it hard and MLSE thought they had to move on from TL. But, I don't see what value he adds to MLSE as a whole apart from being able to speak BCE and Rogers speak. He's a broadcast dude through and through. But, that's it. He's not an obvious puck head - the hockey journalists will be scratching their heads.

I think he's a stop gap for 3 years until they land somebody else.

If true, that's probably good for TFC as he won't interfere in anything sports related. Expect a TFC president to be hired soon then.

[jazzy]

if you ever need to see how much telecom in this country needs to change with the lang and o'leary exchange with naguib onsi sawiris, he was the president of orascom telecom media who owned WIND mobile. i'll paraphrase and sum up what he said:

"fuck this country. you claim you're a capitalist society but your government fucks you. i try and come in here and provide a better service for cheaper prices, then rogers and bell run to your government and go 'oh help! help! he's stealing canadian jobs!' and my company gets taxed out the ass until we can't remain competitive anymore. if rogers and bell are so great, why can't they exist outside of your country? my company operates worldwide, so does vodaphone and virgin. you know why? because we're competitive. if rogers and bell tried to move outside of your country they would fail with what they're offering you right now because they don't understand how to run a competitive business in a free market and need the government to protect them whenever a foreign owned business wants to offer YOUR people a better service. what would happen if the government didn't interfere? they would have to drop their prices to challenge us, but they aren't prepared to do that so they cry 'canadian jobs!'. i wish we'd never come here."

for those of you wondering why WIND cell phones don't work in certain areas.. those are the frequencies and cell towers he's talking about rogers/bell buying.
it was probably the most biting thing i've ever seen. have a look if you've got six minutes.

the glory of business in Canada.........monopolies rule , with future jobs pending for our government leaders.......

[Qman]

according to fredman its john cassaday

TL is staying longer until they finalize the new man .... reportly cassaday.

[skypilot69]

Wow, I learned a lot about our telecom rip offs. Thanks for the info! And when are the CRTC supposed to do something about it?

On the new pres of MLSE

I hope its is a footie guy for our sake!

But it better not be that Douchebag Sepp Bladder

Oh, that won't be a problem as he is not a footie guy anyway

Cheers

[Beach_Red]

Wow, I learned a lot about our telecom rip offs. Thanks for the info! And when are the CRTC supposed to do something about it?

On the new pres of MLSE

I hope its is a footie guy for our sake!

But it better not be that Douchebag Sepp Bladder

Oh, that won't be a problem as he is not a footie guy anyway

Cheers

I just like that there's a Wikipedia entry for it:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

[ensco]

Was going to post this in the Argos to BMO thread, but it rightly belongs here:

The key issue for Bogers is changing the Leafs relationship with the NHL. The Leafs historical willingness to be poodles to these guys is a cosmic joke.

I believe the number one thing that got Burke fired by the new owners was Burke's cozy relationship with Bettman and the existing NHL power structure. There is simply no way that the Leafs should have been supporting, let alone at the forefront, of the hard cap leadership in the last strike.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle7152064/

I think getting the right person to be the point man for getting some separation from the Boston/Philly cabal that has controlled the league for decades, may be the big issue that is stalling the CEO search. Cassaday is a custodian. No way he can be that guy.

I think the guy who will get the job, for Babcock-type dough, is John Collins, COO of the league.

Collins invented the Winter Classic when he was at NBC, he represented the NHL in the Rogers negotiations, and his mandate will be to tell Bettman/Snyder/Jacobs, very nicely, to go eff themselves if they don't like the idea of the Leafs playing lots of games in this beautiful new outdoor stadium that they have just lovingly built.

[Beach_Red]

Was going to post this in the Argos to BMO thread, but it rightly belongs here:

The key issue for Bogers is changing the Leafs relationship with the NHL. The Leafs historical willingness to be poodles to these guys is a cosmic joke.

I believe the number one thing that got Burke fired by the new owners was Burke's cozy relationship with Bettman and the existing NHL power structure. There is simply no way that the Leafs should have been supporting, let alone at the forefront, of the hard cap leadership in the last strike.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle7152064/

I think getting the right person to be the point man for getting some separation from the Boston/Philly cabal that has controlled the league for decades, may be the big issue that is stalling the CEO search. Cassaday is a custodian. No way he can be that guy.

I think the guy who will get the job, for Babcock-type dough, is John Collins, COO of the league.

Collins invented the Winter Classic when he was at NBC, he represented the NHL in the Rogers negotiations, and his mandate will be to tell Bettman/Snyder/Jacobs, very nicely, to go eff themselves if they don't like the idea of the Leafs playing lots of games in this beautiful new outdoor stadium that they have just lovingly built.

This has always been baffling. Maybe the problem was that there was no Toronto-Montreal cabal to form a united front. It does seem like the Leafs can go it alone now. How big a change has George Cope brought to the MLSE boardroom?

[Ultra & Proud]

A fitting candidate to run the MLSE ship has suddenly become available.

[Qman]

Don't think the high-price DP strategy will last past TL's reign, especially when they are drawing basically what they were pre-TL. And high-price friendlies, actually lose money now instead of bring in additional cash flow.
Probably sell off 2, and reinvest in bringing in $1m type guys (eg. laba, flop-ertbo, etc). These type of guys have been so hit-and-miss around the league, so you better put money into scouting.

[OgtheDim]

Don't think the high-price DP strategy will last past TL's reign, especially when they are drawing basically what they were pre-TL.

Uh, paying bums in the stadium are up and paying bums total are up. And amount spent per bum in the stadium is up as well, from what I'm seeing.

DP's are here to stay.

[Ultra & Proud]

Uh, paying bums in the stadium are up and paying bums total are up. And amount spent per bum in the stadium is up as well, from what I'm seeing.

DP's are here to stay.

Also winning doesn't hurt either and will keep the bums in the seats. Selling off DPs after (hopefully) our best season won't help either. For the paltry amount we are paying for our full roster (about equal to 1 very good veteran NBAer), it doesn't take a genius to see that it's a good investment and it goes far beyond the match attendances. I think MLSE will hire a guy who's smarter than to destroy a franchise to save about as much money as they paid Amir Johnson last year.

[ensco]

Uh, paying bums in the stadium are up and paying bums total are up. And amount spent per bum in the stadium is up as well, from what I'm seeing.

DP's are here to stay.

We have debated this countless times, but I would point out that $100M spent on the DPs will be an epic disaster if all that happens is 5,000 more people go to games (that's worth only maybe $250K/game, or $5M a season)

Unless there is a dramatic re-rating of the TV rights value of TFC that flows from this, this level of spending on DPs will not ever recur.

[jloome]

We have debated this countless times, but I would point out that $100M spent on the DPs will be an epic disaster if all that happens is 5,000 more people go to games (that's worth only maybe $250K/game, or $5M a season)

Unless there is a dramatic re-rating of the TV rights value of TFC that flows from this, this level of spending on DPs will not ever recur.

You're thinking in practical business terms again, lol. To these guys, a net cumulative $60 million loss (which to my math is about the minimum they'd lose) over five years is fuck all. $12M a year? They blow as much or more in debatable promotional and upper staff value in the same period, with far less chance of the bottom-line valuation of the team going up.

EDIT: Remember, this company's legend was Mr. Five Percent.

[ensco]

^"These guys" won't be here forever.

Reminds me of all that New Economy crap in 1999-2000. The crazy times we live in are making everyone blind to the way things work, most of the time.

Most of the time, the bean counters rule the roost, and that $60M loss gets a ton of people fired and causes the new managers to never, ever go near that form of risk again.

But right now, we don't live in normal times.

[Ultra & Proud]

^"These guys" won't be here forever.

Reminds me of all that New Economy crap in 1999-2000. The crazy times we live in are making everyone blind to the way things work, most of the time.

Most of the time, the bean counters rule the roost, and that $60M loss gets a ton of people fired and causes the new managers to never, ever go near that form of risk again.

But right now, we don't live in normal times.

This is the world of sports. Losses in $$$ don't get people fired. Losing games and fans does.

Now if they lost $60M on a condo development, then someone gets fired. No doubt.

And also I've been over this twice before; rethink or go look up my math on why that $100M number isn't what you think it is.

[ManUtd4ever]

After Leiweke's departure, I seriously doubt that the MLSE board of governors will ever be persuaded to spend anywhere near 100 million dollars to acquire two players. The economics simply don't support such an investment.

However, I don't think we're in danger of becoming a franchise with a frugal ownership group either. I believe that management will still have the financial resources available to target high profile DPs of Defoe, Bradley, and Giovinco's calibre in the future, provided there are no record setting transfer fees involved.

[molenshtain]

After Leiweke's departure, I seriously doubt that the MLSE board of governors will ever be persuaded to spend anywhere near 100 million dollars to acquire two players. The economics simply don't support such an investment.

However, I don't think we're in danger of becoming a franchise with a frugal ownership group either. I believe that management will still have the financial resources available to target high profile DPs of Defoe, Bradley, and Giovinco's calibre in the future, provided there are no record setting transfer fees involved.

those two statements are sort of contradictory. we're not going to spend a lot after Leiweke, but we're still going to spend on the highest caliber DP's?

[ensco]

And also I've been over this twice before; rethink or go look up my math on why that $100M number isn't what you think it is.

No I insist. The pearls of wisdom never grow dull. Please lecture us again. I'll get some popcorn.

[molenshtain]

We have debated this countless times, but I would point out that $100M spent on the DPs will be an epic disaster if all that happens is 5,000 more people go to games (that's worth only maybe $250K/game, or $5M a season)

Unless there is a dramatic re-rating of the TV rights value of TFC that flows from this, this level of spending on DPs will not ever recur.

Ideally, it's the extra playoff games, friendly's, merch and concessions that they make extra money off of in the short term, not just the increase in attendance. In the long-term, they're in financial position where they can take that sort of high profile risk. I don't think MLSE thinks that paying an entire team with massive, almost un-quantifiable revenue upside slightly less than what they plan on offering Marc Gasol this summer is a big deal.

MLSE know that come 2030, this might very well be one of the biggest leagues in the world. They want to be at the top when that happens and they're spending tons on infrastructure now so it doesn't come back to bite them in the ass later. The stadium renos, the extensive spending on FO and academy structure, the DP spending are all in service of being at the top when this league really takes off, not just at the end of the 2015 season.

If you're of the opinion that this league can compete with the Champions league and the Premiership and La Liga etc. in terms of sponsorship and and TV revenue come 20-30 years time, which it could, should the league take the necessary steps at the necessary times, than spending in the manner that MLSE is is a very intelligent investment. I think it'll probably take longer to get there, since the league seems intent on making it the slowest, most sustainable growth possible, but I think it'll get there all the same.

And that's only if you're looking at it from a monetary perspective. I think TL opened Bell and Rogers eyes as to how influential and powerful they can be as on organization in this city. Not just in terms of getting people happy about a winning product in whatever sport and earning any sort of credit around the city that comes with that in itself, but in terms of Philanthropy and Real Estate, which they've only just begun to get themselves into. They're in an almost limitless position in terms of recognition, money and influence they could have in this city, and they could get into things even outside of sport. Being the guys who finally brought this city sporting excellence across all sports the same way Boston or Chicago or L.A. have could give them licence to do pretty much as they please in this city. It's almost impossible to shy away from that kind of opportunity.

[Ultra & Proud]

No I insist. The pearls of wisdom never grow dull. Please lecture us again. I'll get some popcorn.

Simple short version;

Roughly $100M for 5 years now. $20M per year in salary.

Season tix ; Avg price around $40 (a little more but this is easier to calculate) at 20,000 = $800K match plus with additional seats sold above that let's say that's $1M per match in ticket sales and that with all things considered is probably a bit low.

18 matches this year = approx $18M

Doesn't include friendly. Doesn't include playoffs and until we get there I wouldn't count on that $$$. Doesn't include MLS TV deal. Doesn't include local TV deal. Doesn't include boxes or that fancy club thing. Doesn't include concessions. Doesn't include in house advertising. Doesn't include digital advertising. Doesn't include jersey sponsor. Doesn't include off site sales (web & Real Sports).

Now estimate what all that would equal. I would say more than $3M (actually probably way more).

At $3M it would mean an approximate profit of $1M per season. Since it's way more than that it's safe to say they are earning a bit from TFC even with our $100M output. Winning and erasing some of the TFC PTSD that keeps people away can increase all these numbers. As it is, they make money off that investment. They could make a bit more by nickel and diming with the roster but then the total sum will trend downwards. That is not what successful business is about. Investing more should mean higher gains and that's how it is working with TFC so far. Sports business is a different fish. Generally it's about prestige and other revenue streams that come from your sports franchise(s) so a lot of owner would love to break even and be thrilled with a small profit. TFC probably generate a few mil a year in profits and based on a $20M expenditure that annual profit % would look pretty good on a portfolio.

This doesn't include back room and coaching staffs or running the Academy but even with those costs they probably still earn something or see it as an investment looking ahead. I also think that separate KIA deal is used to fund that branch anyway.

So how was your popcorn anyhow?

[C.Ronaldo]

if you ever need to see how much telecom in this country needs to change with the lang and o'leary exchange with naguib onsi sawiris, he was the president of orascom telecom media who owned WIND mobile. i'll paraphrase and sum up what he said:

"fuck this country. you claim you're a capitalist society but your government fucks you. i try and come in here and provide a better service for cheaper prices, then rogers and bell run to your government and go 'oh help! help! he's stealing canadian jobs!' and my company gets taxed out the ass until we can't remain competitive anymore. if rogers and bell are so great, why can't they exist outside of your country? my company operates worldwide, so does vodaphone and virgin. you know why? because we're competitive. if rogers and bell tried to move outside of your country they would fail with what they're offering you right now because they don't understand how to run a competitive business in a free market and need the government to protect them whenever a foreign owned business wants to offer YOUR people a better service. what would happen if the government didn't interfere? they would have to drop their prices to challenge us, but they aren't prepared to do that so they cry 'canadian jobs!'. i wish we'd never come here."

for those of you wondering why WIND cell phones don't work in certain areas.. those are the frequencies and cell towers he's talking about rogers/bell buying.
it was probably the most biting thing i've ever seen. have a look if you've got six minutes.

from a very succesful man who has made a shit ton working in a shit ton of diff countries.

Our tele industry is an absolute joke

[Qman]

Simple short version;

Roughly $100M for 5 years now. $20M per year in salary.

Season tix ; Avg price around $40 (a little more but this is easier to calculate) at 20,000 = $800K match plus with additional seats sold above that let's say that's $1M per match in ticket sales and that with all things considered is probably a bit low.

18 matches this year = approx $18M

Doesn't include friendly. Doesn't include playoffs and until we get there I wouldn't count on that $$$. Doesn't include MLS TV deal. Doesn't include local TV deal. Doesn't include boxes or that fancy club thing. Doesn't include concessions. Doesn't include in house advertising. Doesn't include digital advertising. Doesn't include jersey sponsor. Doesn't include off site sales (web & Real Sports).

Now estimate what all that would equal. I would say more than $3M (actually probably way more).

At $3M it would mean an approximate profit of $1M per season. Since it's way more than that it's safe to say they are earning a bit from TFC even with our $100M output. Winning and erasing some of the TFC PTSD that keeps people away can increase all these numbers. As it is, they make money off that investment. They could make a bit more by nickel and diming with the roster but then the total sum will trend downwards. That is not what successful business is about. Investing more should mean higher gains and that's how it is working with TFC so far. Sports business is a different fish. Generally it's about prestige and other revenue streams that come from your sports franchise(s) so a lot of owner would love to break even and be thrilled with a small profit. TFC probably generate a few mil a year in profits and based on a $20M expenditure that annual profit % would look pretty good on a portfolio.

This doesn't include back room and coaching staffs or running the Academy but even with those costs they probably still earn something or see it as an investment looking ahead. I also think that separate KIA deal is used to fund that branch anyway.

So how was your popcorn anyhow?

what?????
your totally missing the operating costs of the club.

simple version:
when they were spending $4M on salary, they were making $3M a year.
now they are spending $21m on salary, now they are losing up to $14M a year, probably loss is closer to $10-12 if you include the increasing SUM payments due to USMNT tv deal and selling a few more suites (which still aren't full).

- hasn't been any big revenue increasing except for SUM: Attendance is the same, maybe slightly lower based on games to date (offset by SSH tix prices that are higher from a few years ago, especially for new subscribers); no money from local TV deal (TSN/SN are losing money based on the ratings); shirt sponsor BMO came back for another year (probably at a far lower rate closer to the low price US deals that have been done recently); not making money on friendlies, probably lost money on ManCity; all the box/expensive seats have been empty this year for the first few games.

If the new ML$E CEO doesn't like soccer, he is going to shit his pants. Its just a heads up. Don't get used to the high priced DPs after TL leaves.