Richard Peddie on the Way Out? Is this a good thing?

[TFCREDNWHITE]

Change HIM!! Honestly, He has had ample time to prove himself as a worthy chairman of sports champion, WHICH he has failed!!! FAILED FAILED!!! Toronto deserves WINNERS!! We are in dire need of winners....He has had his chance, now its time to move on to the next.

[BakaGaijin]

I definitely would not call that deal a rip-off considering the exposure the team has given the city, not to mention the revenues the city is earning and the jobs it created. I see nothing unethical in what the team did. A good business deal sees both sides achieving or acquiring advantages it could not have otherwise. That is the case here. Both sides have benefited, it is silly to accuse one side of being unethical when both have profited and could not have without each other.

MLSE was supposed to put up funds to assist with the building of the stadium in return for the right to use it and manage it. They ending up con-ing the naming rights from some dumb city councillors and turned into a profit.

I guess we'll just agree to disagree.

[tfcmanu]

It cost MLSE $18 million just to start up Peddie’s latest gem, Toronto FC. Despite so-called “experts” dismissing the idea that a professional soccer team would work here. In a city full of immigrants, many from South America and Europe—soccer’s hotbeds—Peddie thought he knew better. He was right.

One of the main attractions of the MLS league was that Peddie felt it was a good league with a good Collective Bargaining Agreement, but he wouldn’t have done it without the construction of BMO field. Field sharing wasn’t an option. Peddie knew that to establish TFC, they needed their own stadium.

“[In the first two seasons TFC] has far exceeded our expectations,” said Peddie. “We had 97% renewal [of season ticket holders] first year, 95% renewal second year with13,000 [people] on the waiting list.”

Peddie believes that one day TFC could even be the hottest ticket in town due to soccer’s affordability and its recognition world wide.

Peddie and MLSE’s dalliance with Soccer almost extended to England’s Premier League. Last year, Peddie led executives on a mission to England to evaluate the prospects of perhaps buying a team in the world’s richest soccer league.

“It was a flawed model and we didn’t go near it," said Peddie. “[But] I still get calls.” Newcastleand West Ham both tried to sell to MLSE, but Peddie swiftly told them that he was not interested.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/8...-peddies-hands

[Blazer]

Ummm, Simmons is a douche bag first and foremost.

That being said, the board of directors need to give their collective heads a shake and find themselves someone who can make dollars and cents while also enacting the right personnel along the way. Something Pettie hasn’t done sufficiently well.

[t.o_moose]

...where's that Israeli billionaire that wanted to buy MLSE earlier in the year?

the Leafs, Raps, and TFC could use a sugar daddy