Toronto Star: Edward Rogers fought plans to keep Raptors’ Masai Ujiri

[Randle McMurphy]

And while the jays continue to specialize in finishing in 4th place, the Braves are playing in the World Series. I stopped caring about the jays when this pissant pushed AA out the door. They’re a lost cause as long as they’re owned by these idiots. Watch how great their off-season will go.

The Jays are actually better than the Braves. They won more games and had a run differential nearly 50 runs better. And did that while playing the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays a combined 57 times. They have a much, much more difficult path than the Braves. The Braves wouldn’t sniff the playoffs, let alone World Series if they were in the AL East.

The Jays finished a miserable 8 games below their Pythagorean record due to having a moron of a manager and a useless bullpen. That's on Shatkins for not replacing him and not shoring up the pen. We're now about to lose our ace and our star 2B because Rogers like owning a baseball team but not paying for it.

And it's convenient that you're denigrating AA for his Braves not having the top run differential in baseball. Here's a fun fact, the Braves were +134 this year, higher than both Jays championship teams (the Jays were nowhere near the highest run differential the two years they won). He saw an opportunity to make a play for the playoffs and he made it with some shrewd acquisitions, just like he did back in 2015 (it's a shame Shatkins didn't go for it this year as we're going to lose key players in the off-season). He's an elite GM. It isn't a coincidence that his teams continue to go on deep playoff runs.

Shatkins have done a good job, but it was absolutely criminal what Rogers did to AA. He gave the city its best baseball team since 1993 (best team of all time if we want to play the run differential game) and Ed pushed him out the door.

If you’re talking about the deadline, I would describe the Berrios trade as a very strong go for it move myself. Trading for expensive rental players also made very little sense at the deadline given their weak position in the standings.

[ontnut]

Follow your own advice and read the first few pages. And you have zero clue about why I post here. LOL.

It isn't to expose Ujiri's camera man's power play to become the new CEO of RCI?

The real story hasnt even been told of this lowly camcorder videographer who dared to topple the media oligarchs.

This videographer is going to become a meme on this board. I just know it. Anytime something bad happens, it must've been the videographer. Anytime there's a conspiracy, we are on videographer lookout!

[Merit]

Wow. If he had been successful…

Maybe time to move my cell service off of Rogers

Agreed 100%. This would be the absolute last straw for me. Rogers is such an absolute POS company. If it wasn't a monopoly I would eject wherever possible.

[phillipmike]

When you are not a POC you have the benefit of claiming it's not about race. But Edward Jr.s family sure is pointing fingers that it is. But that fact is lost on you.

Classic race baiting. You don’t even know who I am and automatically assume what I am because I don’t agree with you. What else is new with race baiters who aren’t happy when they scream and cry to the sky when they don’t get their way.

I’m Indian from the Middle East btw. But you will skip over that because it doesn’t fit your narrative.

His own Mom and sisters essentially put him on blast by posting a picture of him with an unabashed racist in Trump. That was not manufactured. His family knows him better than most and you are on here stunting for him. Regardless of the reason why his family is doing a hatchet job the facts are in plain sight. Let me ask you this has there been a denial by Edward of any of the claims by his sister. How much of an idiot does someone have to be for their own Mother to have put out an official statement requesting their son stop being an idiot

His own mom and sister have no power and there is $20B at stake. They will say and do whatever to try to sway public opinion for little brains that can’t see the big picture.

Ed Rogers has holds all the cards. He will win in the boardroom and in court if it goes that far. He has no reason to arbitrate this in media with the sheep in his family. They want something from him, not the other way around. He doesn’t gain anything by addressing all of their statements. He is doing the right thing by ignoring it and conducting business.

The entire family is entitled and want money they didn’t earn and that includes Edward Rogers. The difference is Ted left Ed in charge and did it for a reason.

Your reading comprehension is elementary. Nobody said Rogers the company is racist. But since they were willing to hire a black person so that nullifies the possibility of racism Donald Sterling hired a whole bunch of the blacks and he wasn't a racist.

Your reading comprehension is non existent. No where did I say Rogers went after Kenny Williams. Every article, report and tweet said EDWARD ROGERS alone led the search for a new president, EDWARD ROGERS settled on the name Kenny Williams and EDWARD ROGERS called the White Sox to get permission to hire Kenny Williams. Edward Rogers did this on his own. No other Blue Jays executive were aware Rogers was looking for a new president, hence why the current president at the time, Paul Beeston was blindsided by the phone call.

https://torontosun.com/2015/01/23/the-inside-story-on-how-rogers-tried-to-replace-blue-jays-president-paul-beeston/wcm/e4c28c65-b816-4804-b2cd-30a92091b9d5/amp/

Ed Rogers, deputy chairman of Rogers Communications, phones White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to ask for permission to hire Williams

Again, Ed Rogers phones Reinsdorf asking for permission to interview Williams.

Said Reinsdorf that afternoon outside the Grand Hyatt: “I’m not responding to a request from Edward Rogers a beneficiary. You have to follow baseball procedure: Request for permission to interview someone has to be put in writing.”

Edward Rogers personally called 3 different times over 2 months to get Kenny Williams to put a POC in a position no POC has ever been before. Not because the color of his skin, because he knew Williams deserved it. Which is the way it should be and how Masai got his job.

Donald Trump had "his" African American's that worked for him so he wasn't racist either.

I don't give a rat's ass but anyone taking a family photo with Trump is a racist. Defend all you want.

Take an alleged report (unsubstantiated) that Ed Rogers said Masai was “arrogant” and “brought bodyguards” and turns it into Donald Trump and racism.

Trump derangement syndrome at its best. This has nothing to do with Trump. Apparently no white person can criticize Masai because it’s racist.

Masai isn’t thinned skinned and its a shame people think one of the most powerful minds in sports need people to come to his rescue because someone allegedly said 2 things about him.

[Merit]

Let's be honest. While grateful for what Masai has done, this was an Emeritus contract. It's to honour Masai's past work and keep up our perceived prestige in the league. If that prestige doesn't translate to free agent signings, then the contract is a fail. There's still plenty of chance for that to happen, but it certainly doesn't seem like a slam dunk. Additionally, Masai has been pretty clear that his interests are very divided if not completely elsewhere. We gave him the candy store while allowing him to shop around. Good for him. He's a good negotiator. But Ed has a right to be skeptical. That said, ultimately, I would have given Masai the bag too. He's pretty iconic and is reassuring to fans and investors.

Okay so it sure sounds like you're focusing exclusively on free agent signings as a barometer for success, when the front office themselves have said they're banking on internal development.

Emeritus contract my rear end. Divided interests my rear end. Masai is stupidly deserving. Heck, I bet Canada would vote him as Prime Minister. No Cap.

Ed isn't a skeptic. He's an idiot.

[ontnut]

Look. As a business owner myself, if I think I can get the same results by promoting the second in command, rather than paying the top guy megabucks, I'd have to think long and hard about that myself. But I do believe in rewarding my team for a job well done (yes that means basing it largely on past performance), if I believe that they can continue to grow and improve upon that performance. If my business grew 3-4x in value in less than a decade, I know I wouldn't be replacing anyone in my business, unless it was clear they were not doing their job well. And yes, they'd get raises, and bonuses too.

There's also a lack of importance placed on continuity and stability especially at the top. Sure, you can cycle in the next top exec for less money, and I'm sure he'll do a great job, but you also eventually risk people within your company constantly looking over their shoulder, making short sighted moves, trying to climb over each other, etc., in order to "prove their worth" every second of the day. I hire who I think is right for the job, and let them do their job.

I don't think this has as much to do about race as people here are making it out to be. Sure, Ed may indeed be a POS, or a racist, but I don't know that for sure. He could also be a swell guy, I don't know him at all, so I can't comment on that. I do however know that not re-signing Masai would've been a huge mistake, and a horrible business decision - a choice that reflects upon Ed personally, since he was the one who talked down to Masai and neglected his true worth to the organization.

The single conclusion I can draw from all of this is that Ed is a bad businessman and leader. He didn't build up Rogers. He was gifted it - and there are many, especially those that are close to him, who don't believe he deserves it. That's very telling. If your entire family, and the majority of your BOD don't want you as part of the business, it's a terrible reflection of you as a businessman, and a leader. Familial disputes and backstabbing aside, if you can't keep your own house in order, then that's a reflection upon you as the "top guy". MLSE hasn't grown because of anything Rogers did, it was in large part due to a) the NBA itself as a whole doing a great marketing and sales job, and b) Masai (and Tim) completely changing the culture and success around the team. You have to look at when the valuation of MLSE went from stagnant to exponential growth and figure out the reasons why that may have happened. Is it a coincidence it occurred when Masai took over? Maybe. But I'd be willing to bet that not just any President could've done the same job Masai did. Not all team valuations have skyrocketed like the Raptors, so there must be an uncommon denominator other than purely the NBA as a whole growing. I think that denominator is Masai. So if a guy is at least partly responsible for a business valuation increase of $1.6 billion (300% increase) or whatever crazy number it is now, how could you ever tell him to his face he's not worth double the value he was when your business was worth $500 million?

The raise in his yearly salary is less than the gate revenue from ONE first round playoff game ($10 million/game based on $500/ticket avg), nevermind the concessions, TV ads, etc.. Game 5 of the finals averaged around $6000 per ticket. That's $120,000,000 in ticket revenue alone from ONE GAME, although to be fair, a lot of that goes to resellers. So maybe MLSE takes about 50% of that, but still, $60 mil in ticket revenue for one game? The total revenue for that game including concessions and ads had to be nearing $100 million, since each TV ad cost about $600k). Just think about that when you debate how much value Masai and this team brought to MLSE (and Rogers). And Ed says he's not worth an extra $5-10 mil per year or whatever his raise amounts to be? Get outta here Ed.

[HoopAndTheHarm]

The Blue Jays roster is in great shape and people are complaining? That team had terrible bad luck this season or else they might be the one in the WS.

They also had some incredible good luck. Robbie Ray, Steven Matz, Jordan Romero, Marcus Semien all performed WAYYYY over expectations. 3 of those 4 are now free agents. Maybe they'll get one or two of them back. Can you expect them to repeat what was, for most them, a career year?
They have some awesome young players (some of whom were signed or drafted by Anthopoulos, i.e. Guerrero) but their approach to filling out their roster needs (typically infielders and bullpen pitchers) has largely been to dumpster dive for a bunch of bargains and hope one of them overperforms. Shapiro and Atkins (a duo I prefer to refer to as Shatkins) have yet to truly leave their Cleveland mentality behind. Make no mistake, that was why Shapiro was brought in. He had experience running a team on average or below average payroll.

[HoopAndTheHarm]

He would be violating all the internal HR stuff that we all have to complete like 2 to 3 times per year. Incidentally....I just finished mine. They are getting more and more aggressive about public statements on social media. Lou's hands are tied on this one. And ppl will be watching closely.

let's all do him a favor and not put him in that spot for a call-in show or whatever. We finally have raptor coverage. Let's do our part to protect it. We know where he stands....he doesn't need to say anything.

would have to agree....this is way above his paid grade....


don't think for a sec, there's some spies from Ed reading this too

My SO and I are NOT the type to call out racism. We think that gets bandied around too much nowadays. But this whole 'bodyguard' thing reaks of it. Gotta admit. How much do we wanna bet those 2 guys in the car were black? Doesn't surprise me this is the type of assumption that the type of guy Ed apparently is.....makes on a regular basis. 2 black guys arriving with masai? Must be bodyguards smh.

It doesn't even make any sense. Does he honestly think that Masai is bringing two guys to physically intimidate him to a contract negoitation? Like that's just a child's reasoning.

Ed - "Ok everyone, we need to be ready because a black man is coming to the family vacation compound today. Now, from what I've seen on the hippy hoppy videos...Is that how you say it? Oh, it's hip hop? Whatever. Anyway, from what I've seen, he'll probably come with what they call a "posse" or "crew". This will be several other black men and "bitches". The "bitches" will be in bikinis and the others will be pouring liquor on them most of the time while loud music plays. Just try not to make any aggressive movements. I've already alerted the neighbours."

[Clay Davis]

Lol Ed Rogers defense force out here and they're not pulling punches

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using RealGM mobile app

[tdot_steel]

When you are not a POC you have the benefit of claiming it's not about race. But Edward Jr.s family sure is pointing fingers that it is. But that fact is lost on you.

Classic race baiting. You don’t even know who I am and automatically assume what I am because I don’t agree with you. What else is new with race baiters who aren’t happy when they scream and cry to the sky when they don’t get their way.

I’m Indian from the Middle East btw. But you will skip over that because it doesn’t fit your narrative.

His own Mom and sisters essentially put him on blast by posting a picture of him with an unabashed racist in Trump. That was not manufactured. His family knows him better than most and you are on here stunting for him. Regardless of the reason why his family is doing a hatchet job the facts are in plain sight. Let me ask you this has there been a denial by Edward of any of the claims by his sister. How much of an idiot does someone have to be for their own Mother to have put out an official statement requesting their son stop being an idiot

His own mom and sister have no power and there is $20B at stake. They will say and do whatever to try to sway public opinion for little brains that can’t see the big picture.

Ed Rogers has holds all the cards. He will win in the boardroom and in court if it goes that far. He has no reason to arbitrate this in media with the sheep in his family. They want something from him, not the other way around. He doesn’t gain anything by addressing all of their statements. He is doing the right thing by ignoring it and conducting business.

The entire family is entitled and want money they didn’t earn and that includes Edward Rogers. The difference is Ted left Ed in charge and did it for a reason.

Your reading comprehension is elementary. Nobody said Rogers the company is racist. But since they were willing to hire a black person so that nullifies the possibility of racism Donald Sterling hired a whole bunch of the blacks and he wasn't a racist.

Your reading comprehension is non existent. No where did I say Rogers went after Kenny Williams. Every article, report and tweet said EDWARD ROGERS alone led the search for a new president, EDWARD ROGERS settled on the name Kenny Williams and EDWARD ROGERS called the White Sox to get permission to hire Kenny Williams. Edward Rogers did this on his own. No other Blue Jays executive were aware Rogers was looking for a new president, hence why the current president at the time, Paul Beeston was blindsided by the phone call.

https://torontosun.com/2015/01/23/the-inside-story-on-how-rogers-tried-to-replace-blue-jays-president-paul-beeston/wcm/e4c28c65-b816-4804-b2cd-30a92091b9d5/amp/

Ed Rogers, deputy chairman of Rogers Communications, phones White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to ask for permission to hire Williams

Again, Ed Rogers phones Reinsdorf asking for permission to interview Williams.

Said Reinsdorf that afternoon outside the Grand Hyatt: “I’m not responding to a request from Edward Rogers a beneficiary. You have to follow baseball procedure: Request for permission to interview someone has to be put in writing.”

Edward Rogers personally called 3 different times over 2 months to get Kenny Williams to put a POC in a position no POC has ever been before. Not because the color of his skin, because he knew Williams deserved it. Which is the way it should be and how Masai got his job.

Donald Trump had "his" African American's that worked for him so he wasn't racist either.

I don't give a rat's ass but anyone taking a family photo with Trump is a racist. Defend all you want.

Take an alleged report (unsubstantiated) that Ed Rogers said Masai was “arrogant” and “brought bodyguards” and turns it into Donald Trump and racism.

Trump derangement syndrome at its best. This has nothing to do with Trump. Apparently no white person can criticize Masai because it’s racist.

Masai isn’t thinned skinned and its a shame people think one of the most powerful minds in sports need people to come to his rescue because someone allegedly said 2 things about him.

You are the epitome of idiot and even in the face of evidence will still hold onto their beliefs until the the very end.
Just because you are a POC doesn't provide you with qualified immunity from ignorance and in this case racial bias.
Racists hire POC also you dumb ass.

Do your homework before you come to class son. Otherwise, you would know that Ted Rogers set up a Trust in the event something like this happened. You would also know that Edward Rogers has had a hand in the ouster of the last 3 CEO's. He pushed out AA and Beeston. He tried to do it with Masai also. Do you see a pattern developing yet?

The result of those consultations was the Rogers Control Trust, which would be run by Loretta, Edward, Melinda, Martha and a third daughter, Lisa, plus a few old friends and trusted advisors (including Horn and Tory, the former Scotiabank CEO Peter Godsoe, and Rogers’ board members Phil Lind and Thomas Hull). Edward was named chair of the trust, Melinda vice-chair. There are all sorts of checks and balances in place (an arrangement Ted compared to the American system of government) to guard against hasty or unilateral actions by any one shareholder. The Trust controls 91 per cent of the Rogers Class A voting shares, making it essentially a family-run operation, in line with other communications behemoths with dual-class shares like ­Comcast (the Roberts family) and News Corp (the Murdochs).

Despite Ted’s carefully planned ownership structure, he left it up to his board of directors to choose the next CEO. He let it be known, however, that he favoured Nadir Mohamed, and that his son would do well to serve as Mohamed’s de facto lieutenant until he might be ready to assume the leadership.

Here is a different version of the events with Beeston and Alex A. Edward Rogers went is search of replacements for both while they were still under contract. ER went to seek permission from the White Sox to speak to Williams. Reinsdorf who is friends with Beeston reported back to his buddy that he was going to be replaced.
https://nationalpost.com/sports/baseball/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-paul-beeston-fiasco-is-over-but-questions-about-teams-long-term-plan-remain


I see you conveniently chose to overlook my comment about Edward Rogers taking a family photo with Trump at Mar-a Lago. You are known by the company you keep and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. This speaks to the character of the man to see nothing ethically wrong with taking a picture with a sexual predator, misogynist, racist, criminal like Trump. But that is ok with you nothing to see there, keep it moving. Continue pimping for ER, tells me all I need to know about you. Anyone that would support a man who would usurp his own Mother in search of power is as morally bankrupt as the person committing the act.

I hope your paycheque from Ed Rogers serves you well in life. Class dismissed!

[everdiso]

When you are not a POC you have the benefit of claiming it's not about race. But Edward Jr.s family sure is pointing fingers that it is. But that fact is lost on you.

Classic race baiting. You don’t even know who I am and automatically assume what I am because I don’t agree with you. What else is new with race baiters who aren’t happy when they scream and cry to the sky when they don’t get their way.

I’m Indian from the Middle East btw. But you will skip over that because it doesn’t fit your narrative.

His own Mom and sisters essentially put him on blast by posting a picture of him with an unabashed racist in Trump. That was not manufactured. His family knows him better than most and you are on here stunting for him. Regardless of the reason why his family is doing a hatchet job the facts are in plain sight. Let me ask you this has there been a denial by Edward of any of the claims by his sister. How much of

Lolan idiot does someone have to be for their own Mother to have put out an official statement requesting their son stop being an idiot

His own mom and sister have no power and there is $20B at stake. They will say and do whatever to try to sway public opinion for little brains that can’t see the big picture.

Ed Rogers has holds all the cards. He will win in the boardroom and in court if it goes that far. He has no reason to arbitrate this in media with the sheep in his family. They want something from him, not the other way around. He doesn’t gain anything by addressing all of their statements. He is doing the right thing by ignoring it and conducting business.

The entire family is entitled and want money they didn’t earn and that includes Edward Rogers. The difference is Ted left Ed in charge and did it for a reason.

Your reading comprehension is elementary. Nobody said Rogers the company is racist. But since they were willing to hire a black person so that nullifies the possibility of racism Donald Sterling hired a whole bunch of the blacks and he wasn't a racist.

Your reading comprehension is non existent. No where did I say Rogers went after Kenny Williams. Every article, report and tweet said EDWARD ROGERS alone led the search for a new president, EDWARD ROGERS settled on the name Kenny Williams and EDWARD ROGERS called the White Sox to get permission to hire Kenny Williams. Edward Rogers did this on his own. No other Blue Jays executive were aware Rogers was looking for a new president, hence why the current president at the time, Paul Beeston was blindsided by the phone call.

https://torontosun.com/2015/01/23/the-inside-story-on-how-rogers-tried-to-replace-blue-jays-president-paul-beeston/wcm/e4c28c65-b816-4804-b2cd-30a92091b9d5/amp/

Ed Rogers, deputy chairman of Rogers Communications, phones White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to ask for permission to hire Williams

Again, Ed Rogers phones Reinsdorf asking for permission to interview Williams.

Said Reinsdorf that afternoon outside the Grand Hyatt: “I’m not responding to a request from Edward Rogers a beneficiary. You have to follow baseball procedure: Request for permission to interview someone has to be put in writing.”

Edward Rogers personally called 3 different times over 2 months to get Kenny Williams to put a POC in a position no POC has ever been before. Not because the color of his skin, because he knew Williams deserved it. Which is the way it should be and how Masai got his job.

Donald Trump had "his" African American's that worked for him so he wasn't racist either.

I don't give a rat's ass but anyone taking a family photo with Trump is a racist. Defend all you want.

Take an alleged report (unsubstantiated) that Ed Rogers said Masai was “arrogant” and “brought bodyguards” and turns it into Donald Trump and racism.

Trump derangement syndrome at its best. This has nothing to do with Trump. Apparently no white person can criticize Masai because it’s racist.

Masai isn’t thinned skinned and its a shame people think one of the most powerful minds in sports need people to come to his rescue because someone allegedly said 2 things about him.

Lol all these words spent defending an obvious moron POS trust fund kid like Eddie, all because he took a pic with your beloved Trump.

Trump derangement syndrome for reals.

[C Court]

The identities of Masai's mystery body guards is revealed by the Star.

Like when Rogers scion Ed Rogers tried to sink the re-signing of Raptors president Masai Ujiri after a meeting in Muskoka, and Ed tried to say Ujiri had brought bodyguards to the meeting, painting the Raptors exec as arrogant, even intimidating.

Well, about that: One of the two people accompanying Ujiri was his longtime driver, Amir. The other was Ujiri’s videographer, Jeff Landicho.

Jeff was a driving force behind the “Open Gym” TV program for years; he is very talented, and if we are being honest, he is maybe five-foot-seven and pretty friendly. Some bodyguards are friendly and 5-7, one supposes.

I don't know Amir 'the driver's' background, but I know Open Gym's Jeff Landicho is non-white. So Edward Rogers may have mistaken him for a (small) bodyguard. BTW, Landicho recently left MLSE and is heading a new company called Ujiri Productions.

[Boardbreaker]

The identities of Masai's mystery body guards is revealed by the Star.

Like when Rogers scion Ed Rogers tried to sink the re-signing of Raptors president Masai Ujiri after a meeting in Muskoka, and Ed tried to say Ujiri had brought bodyguards to the meeting, painting the Raptors exec as arrogant, even intimidating.

Well, about that: One of the two people accompanying Ujiri was his longtime driver, Amir. The other was Ujiri’s videographer, Jeff Landicho.

Jeff was a driving force behind the “Open Gym” TV program for years; he is very talented, and if we are being honest, he is maybe five-foot-seven and pretty friendly. Some bodyguards are friendly and 5-7, one supposes.

I don't know Amir 'the driver's' background, but I know Open Gym's Jeff Landicho is non-white. So Edward Rogers may have mistaken him for a (small) bodyguard. BTW, Landicho recently left MLSE and is heading a new company called Ujiri Productions.

Lol I just knew it was one of the open gym guys which made this even funnier to me

[tdot_steel]

Look. As a business owner myself, if I think I can get the same results by promoting the second in command, rather than paying the top guy megabucks, I'd have to think long and hard about that myself. But I do believe in rewarding my team for a job well done (yes that means basing it largely on past performance), if I believe that they can continue to grow and improve upon that performance. If my business grew 3-4x in value in less than a decade, I know I wouldn't be replacing anyone in my business, unless it was clear they were not doing their job well. And yes, they'd get raises, and bonuses too.

There's also a lack of importance placed on continuity and stability especially at the top. Sure, you can cycle in the next top exec for less money, and I'm sure he'll do a great job, but you also eventually risk people within your company constantly looking over their shoulder, making short sighted moves, trying to climb over each other, etc., in order to "prove their worth" every second of the day. I hire who I think is right for the job, and let them do their job.

I don't think this has as much to do about race as people here are making it out to be. Sure, Ed may indeed be a POS, or a racist, but I don't know that for sure. He could also be a swell guy, I don't know him at all, so I can't comment on that. I do however know that not re-signing Masai would've been a huge mistake, and a horrible business decision - a choice that reflects upon Ed personally, since he was the one who talked down to Masai and neglected his true worth to the organization.

The single conclusion I can draw from all of this is that Ed is a bad businessman and leader. He didn't build up Rogers. He was gifted it - and there are many, especially those that are close to him, who don't believe he deserves it. That's very telling. If your entire family, and the majority of your BOD don't want you as part of the business, it's a terrible reflection of you as a businessman, and a leader. Familial disputes and backstabbing aside, if you can't keep your own house in order, then that's a reflection upon you as the "top guy". MLSE hasn't grown because of anything Rogers did, it was in large part due to a) the NBA itself as a whole doing a great marketing and sales job, and b) Masai (and Tim) completely changing the culture and success around the team. You have to look at when the valuation of MLSE went from stagnant to exponential growth and figure out the reasons why that may have happened. Is it a coincidence it occurred when Masai took over? Maybe. But I'd be willing to bet that not just any President could've done the same job Masai did. Not all team valuations have skyrocketed like the Raptors, so there must be an uncommon denominator other than purely the NBA as a whole growing. I think that denominator is Masai. So if a guy is at least partly responsible for a business valuation increase of $1.6 billion (300% increase) or whatever crazy number it is now, how could you ever tell him to his face he's not worth double the value he was when your business was worth $500 million?

The raise in his yearly salary is less than the gate revenue from ONE first round playoff game ($10 million/game based on $500/ticket avg), nevermind the concessions, TV ads, etc.. Game 5 of the finals averaged around $6000 per ticket. That's $120,000,000 in ticket revenue alone from ONE GAME, although to be fair, a lot of that goes to resellers. So maybe MLSE takes about 50% of that, but still, $60 mil in ticket revenue for one game? The total revenue for that game including concessions and ads had to be nearing $100 million, since each TV ad cost about $600k). Just think about that when you debate how much value Masai and this team brought to MLSE (and Rogers). And Ed says he's not worth an extra $5-10 mil per year or whatever his raise amounts to be? Get outta here Ed.

I agree this is not about race. But one cannot ignore there is a racial element to it in the optics with Masai and the family picture with Trump. That was the intent of the thinly veiled Star article and the posting of the Trump photo. This was personal and the information provided appeared to come from family who are out for blood. If you have a picture of Hitler and a copy Mein Kampf you are racist. If I am posting pictures myself on Facebook with Louis Farrakhan I identify with anti-semitism. There is no middle ground. People want to straddle the line not wanting to alienate certain demographics as it may affect their bottom line. That is no longer acceptable.

That said as a business owner and based on your responses you understand the nuances involved in the optics of the corporate world. It is not a good look to have family affairs and personal vendettas aired that will negatively affect the business. That appears lost on Edward and he has invoked the nuclear option regardless of the consequences. You have expressed your thoughts on ER's credibility as a leader and "get it."

[johanliebert]

A photo-op with trump means you’re racist now? I’ve never heard trump was racist until he got into office. He was known for breaking bread with black entrepreneurs in the 80’s and often congregated with said partners.

You ain’t black if you don’t think trumps racist tho.

[ropjhk]

Is Edward Rogers looking to become our James Dolan?

[anotherhomer]

You means James Dolan of not only the raptors but Rogers...likely

The CFO he wanted to elevate to CEO is pretty bad from what ppl told me.....
They will do a poor evaluation of everything

Undervaluing the important ppl(ujiri) but overvaluing the wrong ppl (NHL, Comcast, etc)

[OakleyDokely]

Is Edward Rogers looking to become our James Dolan?

A cheap James Dolan. Dolan at least spends money on his team.

[carlosey]

A photo-op with trump means you’re racist now? I’ve never heard trump was racist until he got into office. He was known for breaking bread with black entrepreneurs in the 80’s and often congregated with said partners.

You ain’t black if you don’t think trumps racist tho.

Pilgrimage to Trumpland after these past few years, sabotaging the signing of a top level black executive, calling people accompanying him his body guards...

I mean...

[kirkwood]

Not to stick up for this idiot but there was valid concern on if the Raptors were still his number one focus, there is still concern with that and his job entails other business interests.

Masai was barely visible last year and not very visible this year either. He has interests around the world, the Raptors are just part of that and no longer the one and only focus.

The product shows that