Breaking: Rogers Aquires Bell Stake In MLSE

[Boardbreaker]

First order of business, Ed Rogers statue outside Scotiabank arena.

Rebranding to the Toronto Rogers imminent

[Quattro]

Yeah the Jays are run just fine from an ownership standpoint. They are one of a handful of teams paying the luxury tax, and the Jays have been on the big free agents every year since 2019. Rogers seems willing to spend on the Blue Jays without any issues. The Jays biggest issue is player development, which has nothing to do with Rogers.

Whether this is good or bad for the Raptors is another story, but Rogers hasn’t been an issue with the Jays.

You think this is “fine” ownership?

https://torontosun.com/2015/01/23/the-inside-story-on-how-rogers-tried-to-replace-blue-jays-president-paul-beeston

I’m talking about how they’ve been since Shapiro was brought on. They’ve invested heavily into the team, stadium, etc. They are not the reason the Jays are in a bad spot now. Pre-Shapiro, you’ll get no argument from me that Rogers was more of an issue.

I get what your saying but you can't divorce the decision to run a CLEARLY superior GM out of town to hire Shatkins with what happens afterwards. The single most important job as an owner is putting the right people in place. See raptors pre and post Tim Liewieke.

[Fairview4Life]

First order of business, Ed Rogers statue outside Scotiabank arena.

Who can forget his invaluable contributions to the Raptors championship.

[OakleyDokely]

First order of business, Ed Rogers statue outside Scotiabank arena.

Rebranding to the Toronto Rogers imminent

Price of those Rogers bills going up! Although, they don't need to spend 4.7B for that to happen.

[ForeverTFC]

Ed Rogers continuing to live rent free in the heads of realGMers.

The over-the-top negativity and "Masai is gone and I know his future career trajectory" is really ridiculous and insufferable. The same over-the-top negativity and "Masai is gone and I know his future career trajectory" was out in full force when his previous contract was ending and of course it was completely wrong. There's a few in particular who think they know everything and that every thought or idea which pops into their heads will become a guaranteed reality and this thread will become a giant echo chamber of endless negativity.

I wouldn't be surprised if Masai ends up being our Pat Riley and is in for the long haul.

Do you want us to pretend this didn’t happen:

Edward Rogers actively fought plans to keep Masai Ujiri as head of the Toronto Raptors this summer — saying that he was not worth the amount offered — and then tried to extract an extraordinary benefit for his own company, the Star has learned.

To the relief of fans, the ploy by Rogers was unsuccessful, and the Raptors announced on Aug. 5 that Ujiri was staying on in Toronto as vice chairman and president of basketball operations.

However, new details have emerged suggesting that behind the scenes Edward Rogers tried to sabotage a high-performing executive with whom he had grown disenchanted — and ultimately failed in his bid because he appeared not to fully understand the governance structure of the NBA franchise.

https://www.thestar.com/business/edward-rogers-fought-plans-to-keep-raptors-masai-ujiri-but-was-thwarted-by-mlse-head/article_2abb5319-c18e-583b-9924-7da418c9680a.html

Or that Roger’s didn’t March Grange out as their chief propaganda correspondent to preview Ed’s takeover plans just last season?

Watch on YouTube

[redeye514]

You think this is “fine” ownership?

https://torontosun.com/2015/01/23/the-inside-story-on-how-rogers-tried-to-replace-blue-jays-president-paul-beeston

I’m talking about how they’ve been since Shapiro was brought on. They’ve invested heavily into the team, stadium, etc. They are not the reason the Jays are in a bad spot now. Pre-Shapiro, you’ll get no argument from me that Rogers was more of an issue.

I get what your saying but you can't divorce the decision to run a CLEARLY superior GM out of town to hire Shatkins with what happens afterwards. The single most important job as an owner is putting the right people on place. See raptors pre and post Tim Liewieke.

Ed don't like people who manages up or rocks the boat, as such, AA had to go. Too spunky for the king whale. Masai will be next, unfortunately.

Gotta bring in a good corporate 'yes man' who listens intently to the direction from god himself, Ed.

[Raps in 4]

Ed about to fire Masai and give Mark Shapiro control over all Toronto sports teams.

I hate sports in this city so **** much.

[Raps in 4]

Ed Rogers continuing to live rent free in the heads of realGMers.

The over-the-top negativity and "Masai is gone and I know his future career trajectory" is really ridiculous and insufferable. The same over-the-top negativity and "Masai is gone and I know his future career trajectory" was out in full force when his previous contract was ending and of course it was completely wrong. There's a few in particular who think they know everything and that every thought or idea which pops into their heads will become a guaranteed reality and this thread will become a giant echo chamber of endless negativity.

I wouldn't be surprised if Masai ends up being our Pat Riley and is in for the long haul.

Do you want us to pretend this didn’t happen:

Edward Rogers actively fought plans to keep Masai Ujiri as head of the Toronto Raptors this summer — saying that he was not worth the amount offered — and then tried to extract an extraordinary benefit for his own company, the Star has learned.

To the relief of fans, the ploy by Rogers was unsuccessful, and the Raptors announced on Aug. 5 that Ujiri was staying on in Toronto as vice chairman and president of basketball operations.

However, new details have emerged suggesting that behind the scenes Edward Rogers tried to sabotage a high-performing executive with whom he had grown disenchanted — and ultimately failed in his bid because he appeared not to fully understand the governance structure of the NBA franchise.

https://www.thestar.com/business/edward-rogers-fought-plans-to-keep-raptors-masai-ujiri-but-was-thwarted-by-mlse-head/article_2abb5319-c18e-583b-9924-7da418c9680a.html

Or that Roger’s didn’t March Grange out as their chief propaganda correspondent to preview Ed’s takeover plans just last season?

Watch on YouTube

I can't believe there are actually **** Rogers shills in this city.

Like, these guys have to be either shareholders or senior employees, right?

[Michael Bradley]

You think this is “fine” ownership?

https://torontosun.com/2015/01/23/the-inside-story-on-how-rogers-tried-to-replace-blue-jays-president-paul-beeston

I’m talking about how they’ve been since Shapiro was brought on. They’ve invested heavily into the team, stadium, etc. They are not the reason the Jays are in a bad spot now. Pre-Shapiro, you’ll get no argument from me that Rogers was more of an issue.

Ed’s inability to hire good senior talent due to his need for yes men to stroke his ego and play his political games has nothing to do with the lack of success for the team despite the money that’s been poured into it?

The Jays from 2020-23 had the 6th best record in baseball, and made the playoffs 3 out of those 4 years (although one of them was the Mickey Mouse variety due to the pandemic). The one year they missed the playoffs (by 1 game) during that stretch was when the Canadian government wouldn't let them play in Toronto until August. They were 25-11 at home once they were allowed to play there, but had to play home games in minor league facilities the four months prior to that. In other words, prior to 2024, Rogers from a business standpoint had no reason to make any changes. Shapiro inherited one of the oldest teams in baseball on its last legs with a farm system that had nothing in the upper minors (Vlad was a few years away at that point). They turned that into a playoff team again within 3 years.

I'm not trying to white knight for the Jays front office. I think they need to be replaced with fresh minds, and the entire player development process needs a massive overhaul. However, I think people are going overboard with the criticism here. I think the one legitimate fear as it relates to the Raptors (assuming Masai leaves/is forced out) is Ed hiring someone worse, but I think that fear would have been there regardless of who was making the hire. Masai, despite the last few seasons, is right up there with Pat Gillick as one of the best GM's in Toronto sports history, so downgrading from that is more likely than upgrading.

[JB7]

First order of business, Ed Rogers statue outside Scotiabank arena.

That would be great. Then you could see the seagulls **** on the head of both the Ted and Ed Rogers statues

[JB7]

First order of business, Ed Rogers statue outside Scotiabank arena.

Rebranding to the Toronto Rogers imminent

Price of those Rogers bills going up! Although, they don't need to spend 4.7B for that to happen.

Yep, dump all of your Rogers products now and shift over to Bell

Bell will probably be giving out great deals now

[Raps in 4]

I’m talking about how they’ve been since Shapiro was brought on. They’ve invested heavily into the team, stadium, etc. They are not the reason the Jays are in a bad spot now. Pre-Shapiro, you’ll get no argument from me that Rogers was more of an issue.

Ed’s inability to hire good senior talent due to his need for yes men to stroke his ego and play his political games has nothing to do with the lack of success for the team despite the money that’s been poured into it?

The Jays from 2020-23 had the 6th best record in baseball, and made the playoffs 3 out of those 4 years (although one of them was the Mickey Mouse variety due to the pandemic). The one year they missed the playoffs (by 1 game) during that stretch was when the Canadian government wouldn't let them play in Toronto until August. They were 25-11 at home once they were allowed to play there, but had to play home games in minor league facilities the four months prior to that. In other words, prior to 2024, Rogers from a business standpoint had no reason to make any changes. Shapiro inherited one of the oldest teams in baseball on its last legs with a farm system that had nothing in the upper minors (Vlad was a few years away at that point). They turned that into a playoff team again within 3 years.

I'm not trying to white knight for the Jays front office. I think they need to be replaced with fresh minds, and the entire player development process needs a massive overhaul. However, I think people are going overboard with the criticism here. I think the one legitimate fear as it relates to the Raptors (assuming Masai leaves/is forced out) is Ed hiring someone worse, but I think that fear would have been there regardless of who was making the hire. Masai, despite the last few seasons, is right up there with Pat Gillick as one of the best GM's in Toronto sports history, so downgrading from that is more likely than upgrading.

The Jays won zero playoff games during that span, and the team got worse each year as it bled talent without replacing the lost production.

The team was built by adding a bunch of free agents (to get butts in seats), while completely neglecting the farm system. The end result is the dumpster fire we have now.

[Reeko]

So what's the next move? Total and complete ownership of all Toronto sports teams? Larry T just sells his shares to Rogers when his time is up? This is revolting. And people saying "Oh don't worry Rogers isn't cheap they spend so much money on the Blue Jays", you know who else wasn't scared of spending money? James Dolan, and look at what he did to the Knicks for the better part of 2 decades. Maybe it won't be as bad as many of us seem to think, but the fact still remains that the guy at the top of sports pyramid in this city is a blithering idiot.

[Duffman100]

Ed’s inability to hire good senior talent due to his need for yes men to stroke his ego and play his political games has nothing to do with the lack of success for the team despite the money that’s been poured into it?

The Jays from 2020-23 had the 6th best record in baseball, and made the playoffs 3 out of those 4 years (although one of them was the Mickey Mouse variety due to the pandemic). The one year they missed the playoffs (by 1 game) during that stretch was when the Canadian government wouldn't let them play in Toronto until August. They were 25-11 at home once they were allowed to play there, but had to play home games in minor league facilities the four months prior to that. In other words, prior to 2024, Rogers from a business standpoint had no reason to make any changes. Shapiro inherited one of the oldest teams in baseball on its last legs with a farm system that had nothing in the upper minors (Vlad was a few years away at that point). They turned that into a playoff team again within 3 years.

I'm not trying to white knight for the Jays front office. I think they need to be replaced with fresh minds, and the entire player development process needs a massive overhaul. However, I think people are going overboard with the criticism here. I think the one legitimate fear as it relates to the Raptors (assuming Masai leaves/is forced out) is Ed hiring someone worse, but I think that fear would have been there regardless of who was making the hire. Masai, despite the last few seasons, is right up there with Pat Gillick as one of the best GM's in Toronto sports history, so downgrading from that is more likely than upgrading.

The Jays won zero playoff games during that span, and the team got worse each year as it bled talent without replacing the lost production.

The team was built by adding a bunch of free agents (to get butts in seats), while completely neglecting the farm system. The end result is the dumpster fire we have now.

Yeah at no point were we actually contenders and now we're left with a terrible on field product and a terrible farm system.

[Raps in 4]

Rebranding to the Toronto Rogers imminent

Price of those Rogers bills going up! Although, they don't need to spend 4.7B for that to happen.

Yep, dump all of your Rogers products now and shift over to Bell

Bell will probably be giving out great deals now

Bell isn't available in my rental complex.

[douggood]

Rebranding to the Toronto Rogers imminent

Price of those Rogers bills going up! Although, they don't need to spend 4.7B for that to happen.

Yep, dump all of your Rogers products now and shift over to Bell

Bell will probably be giving out great deals now

bell

BCE Inc. was cut to the brink of junk by Moody’s Ratings on concerns about the telecom company’s earnings growth failing to keep pace with its debt load.
...
BCE has a total debt load as of June of about C$39.5 billion ($29.3 billion) with roughly C$6.6 billion in debt coming due over the next year, data compiled by Bloomberg show

rogers is taking on debt and outside investors to complete the deal. projected mid 2025

[CazOnReal]

Just a reminder that Ed Rogers wants to be the "next sports Czar" so...

If things get worse for the Raptors rather than better? You know exactly who to blame.

[Badonkadonk]

Well this is terrifying as a Toronto sports fan.

I know a bit about the company's management hierarchy and Ed Rogers is a literal idiot. He surrounds himself with other idiots. Best case, you get 9 years of mediocrity like we've seen with the Jays since Ed chose Shapiro over AA. Worst case, you have a more active owner surrounded by enablers who are f*cking up all of the teams. I'm sure he thinks Pelley will help, we'll see, he was Ed's stooge last time he worked for him.

One small positive out of this is I expect the Jays will be folded under MLSE at some point. Currently, the team's operating income/losses appear directly on Rogers' income statements under the Media division. MLSE appears as an investment asset. Taking the Jays out of the quarterly pressure cycle will be good for the team.

[Michael Bradley]

Ed’s inability to hire good senior talent due to his need for yes men to stroke his ego and play his political games has nothing to do with the lack of success for the team despite the money that’s been poured into it?

The Jays from 2020-23 had the 6th best record in baseball, and made the playoffs 3 out of those 4 years (although one of them was the Mickey Mouse variety due to the pandemic). The one year they missed the playoffs (by 1 game) during that stretch was when the Canadian government wouldn't let them play in Toronto until August. They were 25-11 at home once they were allowed to play there, but had to play home games in minor league facilities the four months prior to that. In other words, prior to 2024, Rogers from a business standpoint had no reason to make any changes. Shapiro inherited one of the oldest teams in baseball on its last legs with a farm system that had nothing in the upper minors (Vlad was a few years away at that point). They turned that into a playoff team again within 3 years.

I'm not trying to white knight for the Jays front office. I think they need to be replaced with fresh minds, and the entire player development process needs a massive overhaul. However, I think people are going overboard with the criticism here. I think the one legitimate fear as it relates to the Raptors (assuming Masai leaves/is forced out) is Ed hiring someone worse, but I think that fear would have been there regardless of who was making the hire. Masai, despite the last few seasons, is right up there with Pat Gillick as one of the best GM's in Toronto sports history, so downgrading from that is more likely than upgrading.

The Jays won zero playoff games during that span, and the team got worse each year as it bled talent without replacing the lost production.

The team was built by adding a bunch of free agents (to get butts in seats), while completely neglecting the farm system. The end result is the dumpster fire we have now.

The 2022 team that had the 3rd best record in the AL was built around prospects the team either drafted, signed, or traded for (Vlad, Bo, Kirk, Teoscar, Gurriel, Jansen, Espinal, Manoah, Romano). They supplemented that talent with veterans like Gausman, Springer, Chapman, etc, but the core of that team was at least equal parts homegrown, if not more. The issue with subsequent teams (2023 in particular) was regression of that young talent, for one reason or another, as well as not being able to produce a 2nd wave of talent from the minors to add on to the existing one. That's on player development, scouting, coaching, bad luck, etc. There's clearly an issue somewhere there, which is why I believe player development and at the very least Atkins needs to be replaced.

My point is, looking at the totality of what they have done, it's no where near worth the scorn that they are getting, and people thinking Rogers should have acted sooner in terms of getting rid of them is not realistic. I'm not comparing Shapiro to Masai (the latter is clearly better at his job), but it would be like wanting the Raptors to fire Masai after 2017 because the team kept falling short (sometimes in embarrassing fashion) despite good regular seasons. You can't expect most ownership groups, especially corporate ones, to operate that way. I think expecting Rogers to do something with the front office now is more realistic than it was prior to this season.

[ItsDanger]

MLSE management of the Leafs franchise deserves way more criticism. While Raptors have had good success overall, especially playoffs, during this ownership structure period, the Leafs have not. If anything, they've wasted opportunity. Yet, it's the same owners. Tanenbaum isn't viewed in the same way among Leafs fans.