Rivals buy stakes in MLSE: What will it mean for TFC?

Can two bitter rivals join to run a sports empire?

That’s the, ahem, $1.3 billion question, isn’t it? That’s the reported sum the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund will receive for selling its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Telecommunications giants Rogers (which owns the Sportsnet range of channels) is in for 37.5 per cent. Bell (which owns TSN) is in for the other 37.5 pr cent, while current MLSE governor Larry Tanenbaum ups his stake to 25 per cent.

Of course, the MLSE empire includes Toronto FC, BMO Field, TFC’s under-construction training facility in Downsview and a majority stake in Gol TV Canada.

But, until we see how Bell and Rogers react to each other in the boardroom, it’s hard to figure out how it will change the governance of any of the sports properties. Remember, that, unlike the reign of the Pension Fund, no one here has a majority stake in MLSE. So, the guess would be that more, not less, decision-making would be tied up at the board level.

And Tanenbaum remains as the Governor.

“I remain dedicated to the future,” said Tanenbaum in a release. “I know you are, too, Here’s to winning, guys.”

But, there is one short-term impact on TFC that can’t be ignored. Until today, the Reds were the only summer team in the MLSE empire. From whenever the Raptors and Leafs seasons ended (usually April, at least since TFC has been around) to September, the Reds were MLSE’s major focus. Now, TFC becomes the Blue Jays’ little brother. Rogers owns the Jays. Yes, there is plenty of airwave space on TSN, TSN2 and the Sportsnet channels to make lots of people happy, but TFC (and Whitecaps fans, for that matter) are already weary of having TV broadcasts pre-empted or pushed back because of baseball or other programming priorities, which happened on Sportsnet several times last season.

But, now that the Leafs, Raptors and Blue Jays are officially related, you can’t ignore the feeling that more time, energy and money will be spent trying to convince people under 30 that they should like baseball. After all, the Blue Jays’ investment in a single player outdoes the MLS salary cap. By a lot.

Rogers owns Sportsnet World (formerly Setanta), and now has, by proxy, a 37.5 per cent stake in MLSE’s majority position in Gol TV Canada. So, it has chunks of what essentially amounts to two soccer channels in a Canadian market that hasn’t proved it can support just one.

Stocks were down slightly after the announcement of the acquisition — and that’s normal after a company or makes a major buy. But it will be interesting to see how well the two rival companies play with each other in the sandbox. Until we get a feel for that, you can’t see any business practices changing at TFC or at any other MLSE club.

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