The Shapiro & Rogers Megathread

polo007 · Post #1041 » by **polo007** » Mon Nov 22, 2021 5:11 pm

Rogers looks to cash in on Blue Jays to pay down company debt ahead of Shaw deal - The Globe and Mail

Rogers executives have talked about raising money by selling all or part of the baseball club for many years. At an investor conference in 2017, Mr. Staffieri said the company was “looking at ways to better surface the value of the Blue Jays.” The concept is now on the front burner as Rogers moves to close its $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc., an acquisition funded with $20-billion of debt.

Options under consideration for the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre include selling a minority stake in the ball club, spinning off the team or raising money by selling “tracking shares,” according to one company source and a source in banking. Tracking shares, a type of specialized equity offering that would mirror the value of the team, are already used by the owner of at least one other Major League Baseball franchise, the Atlanta Braves.

Rogers also owns a 37.5-per-cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., parent of the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Argos, and Toronto FC. This holding is not part of the current review, according to the company and banking sources.

If Rogers did decide to sell a portion of the Blue Jays to an individual, the sources said company chair Edward Rogers is a potential buyer. The vast majority of professional sports franchises are owned by wealthy individuals, rather than public companies.

Blue Jays executives already report to Mr. Rogers, and the 52-year-old is chair of the team. He is also its representative on Major League Baseball’s board. At Blue Jays spring training games in Dunedin, Fla., Mr. Rogers sits in the stands watching his sons serve as bat boys.

The Shaw takeover is expected to close next spring. Winning approval for the transaction from federal regulators is the top priority for Mr. Staffieri. In interviews last week, he said preparing Rogers’s balance sheet for the acquisition is also a priority. A spokesperson for Rogers declined to comment on the company’s plans for its baseball franchise.

The sources said they expect a decision on whether to sell the Blue Jays to be made after the end of negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement for Major League Baseball players. The current agreement expires on December 1.

If Rogers, which broadcasts Blue Jays games on its Sportsnet television and radio networks, does spin out its baseball team, the company and the franchise will face issues around related-party transactions. Sources said those potential conflicts are part of the reason the company has kept all its sports and media properties under one roof.

Separately, Rogers and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. are working on a project to redevelop the Rogers Centre, which opened in 1989, and the surrounding property.

polo007 · Post #1042 » by **polo007** » Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:49 am

Blue Jays decide to upgrade Rogers Centre - VenuesNow

The Toronto Blue Jays have decided to renovate Rogers Centre instead of building a new stadium to replace it, according to industry sources familiar with the Major League Baseball team’s plan.

Populous will design upgrades to the 32-year-old building and PCI Construction is the general contractor after winning proposals issued by the Blue Jays over the past few months.

The project cost is estimated at $200 million to $250 million for an extensive makeover, sources said. There is no timeline for when construction would start.

Mario Coutinho, the Blue Jays’ vice president of stadium operations and security, did not return an email and phone call for comment.

Anuk Karunaratne, the team’s executive vice president of business operations and Sanj Perera, senior manager of project management, both principally involved in stadium renovations, did not return an email for comment.

The move represents a significant turnabout for the Blue Jays regarding the future of their venue, which stands as the first retractable-roof stadium in baseball when it opened in June 1989.

In November 2020, Rogers Communications, owner of the team and the facility, proposed that the stadium be torn down and replaced with a new building on site in downtown Toronto.

The new facility, proposed for the southern edge of the current property, was to serve as an anchor for redevelopment of Toronto’s central business district.

Brookfield Asset Management, an investment firm with $237 billion in real estate assets, was part of the redevelopment effort, several Canada media outlets reported at the time.

The decision to renovate over new construction most likely came down to sheer economics, sources said.

MavCarter · Post #1043 » by **MavCarter** » Thu Jan 6, 2022 2:09 am

Spending $250 million on renovations after years of touting major renovations is absolutely pathetic. Im pretty sure major renos was one of the main reasons shapiro decided to come here in the first place. For context mark shapiro headed renovations for progressive field in cleveland only 6 years ago and this year they're about to spend another $400M on renovations. Thats double the amount on a ball park much better than rogers. Stinks of eddy rogers

MavCarter · Post #1044 » by **MavCarter** » Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:24 pm

I completely missed a report back in November about the nfl discussing expanding to 40 teams and toronto being a name on the list. I wonder if rogers scrapping the idea for a new ballpark has anything to do with the possibility of a new NFL stadium (although obviously this wouldn't be anytime soon). I know rogers can't own an nfl team but maybe they get in on the action by building a stadium alongside brookfield and getting in on the tv rights? Maybe ed rogers (gross) gets in on owning a team himself?

polo007 · Post #1045 » by **polo007** » Tue Mar 1, 2022 12:09 am

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s e n s i · Post #1046 » by **s e n s i** » Tue Mar 1, 2022 5:08 pm

i don't know if this has been posted yet here but looks like we've got a sleek new massive scoreboard. now what to do with the eyesore that is the hotel windows.

polo007 · Post #1047 » by **polo007** » Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:14 pm

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polo007 · Post #1048 » by **polo007** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 11:29 pm

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polo007 · Post #1049 » by **polo007** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 4:00 pm

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Brinbe · Post #1050 » by **Brinbe** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:15 pm

Gotta be able to charge real premium prices for the championship years!

Whatever, it's ultimately a business and it's privately funded so go wild, Robbers. At least they're sinking money into the team/stadium. Rename it the Rogers Skydome already, please?

polo007 · Post #1051 » by **polo007** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 3:16 am

It's a World-Series-or-bust mindset for Shapiro's Jays - TSN.ca

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Mark Shapiro has every reason to be smiling these days.

Sitting in a boardroom named after Paul Beeston inside his prized possession, a new $110-million player development complex, on Friday morning, the Toronto Blue Jays president and CEO talked rising payrolls, a newly-planned large-scale renovation of the interior of Rogers Centre, and, of course, winning.

As the challenges of the pandemic finally start to ease, the payroll, a rebuilt roster chock full of star talent, the minor-league system and the overall mindset of the entire organization all seem to be in great shape with the 2022 season on the horizon.

Starting in April, the revenue will start to return, as well, leaving very few major items left to check off the to-do list.

Except one.

And it’s absolutely going to be the hardest one to achieve.

“I hope we have one or two world championship trophies in the case,” Shapiro said of where he hopes the Blue Jays are as an organization in two years. “That’s what I hope we look like.”

Climbing that hill will be difficult, but the Jays are better equipped to do it than all but a handful of teams in baseball.

The plan Shapiro pitched to Rogers ownership six years ago has become mostly reality, maybe even a little quicker than the soon-to-be 55-year-old executive thought.

“There was a plan laid out five or six years ago, and they never unfold exactly as you think, but things have unfolded as we proposed,” Shapiro said.

Coming off a 91-win season with a pair of MVP candidates and the AL Cy Young winner that somehow, someway didn’t end in a trip to the postseason, Shapiro feels the amended group put together by GM Ross Atkins and his front office has improved and is one that’s prepared to deal with the ups and downs that come with the marathon that’s in front of them.

“Better than 91 wins,” Shapiro said when asked how good this Jays club can be this year. “The reality of 162 games is that there’s going to be some things that we can’t foresee that are going to happen. How well you adjust to the unknowns — injuries or uncertainties or anything that could come up — is often the test of a team. But I do feel like we are better prepared for the unknowns than any other team could be because of what we went through the last two years.”

polo007 · Post #1052 » by **polo007** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:31 pm

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polo007 · Post #1053 » by **polo007** » Thu Apr 7, 2022 3:03 am

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polo007 · Post #1054 » by **polo007** » Sat Apr 9, 2022 6:28 pm

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polo007 · Post #1055 » by **polo007** » Thu Jun 16, 2022 4:44 pm

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polo007 · Post #1056 » by **polo007** » Wed Jun 29, 2022 6:02 pm

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polo007 · Post #1057 » by **polo007** » Sat Jul 23, 2022 2:30 am

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polo007 · Post #1058 » by **polo007** » Fri Nov 4, 2022 11:23 pm

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polo007 · Post #1059 » by **polo007** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:05 am

Dan Shulman walks away from ESPN baseball, hopes to call a Blue Jays World Series for Canada - USA Today

One night, he’s fighting his way through the frenzied crowd in the streets of Houston, through a packed hotel lobby, just to get back to his room with a cold beer after Game 6 of the World Series.

Six days later, he’s sitting on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego, calling the Peraton Armed Forces Classic college basketball game.

Now, on Tuesday, he’s at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at the Champions Classic, featuring three top-10 college basketball schools with Kentucky and Michigan State playing the first game, and Kansas and Duke in the nightcap.

Welcome to the life of ESPN broadcaster Dan Shulman, who pulled off perhaps his most successful feat of his illustrious career.

He managed to keep from crying, at least until he was off the air, broadcasting his final Major League Baseball game for ESPN after 24 years.

“I don't appear to be it on the outside,’’ Shulman tells USA TODAY Sports, “but I'm actually a very sappy, sentimental, nostalgic person. And anytime a chapter closes, I feel it a lot. So I thought about it a lot. This has been an unbelievable opportunity. What a blessing and what a privilege.

“I will miss this. I will miss this a great deal.’’

polo007 · Post #1060 » by **polo007** » Thu Nov 24, 2022 4:54 am

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