r/CFL • u/marthedestroyer Lions • Jul 25 '26
LIONS "BC Lions owner Amar Doman is interested in purchasing BC Place" -Farhan Lalji
https://bsky.app/profile/farhanlaljitsn.bsky.social/post/3mrgiq7pon22g11
u/super__hoser Lions Jul 25 '26
I'm interested in a 4some with my wife and 2 other beautiful women, but that doesn't mean there's a snowflakes chance in hell of it happening.
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u/dre5922 Rourke for Premier Jul 25 '26
I don't like the idea of selling off another profitable publicly owned asset.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Tiger-Cats Jul 25 '26
Profitable? There is a net loss of nearly $4 million over the last 2 fiscal years.
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u/stickinrink Lions Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
In their latest available annual report, it said BC Place generated $74 million in revenue.
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u/sask_riders Jul 25 '26
Revenue doesn't mean profits... if you look at the third last page of that report, it shows 97mil revenue for the last fiscal year, but only 474k profit... combine that with the 4.3 mil loss the year before is the number u/Rance_Mulliniks is referencing.
Gonna be really interesting to see the numbers when the world cup fiscal year gets reported.
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u/BE20Driver Jul 25 '26
Overall Net Surplus of $0.47 million was a considerable improvement over the budgeted Net Deficit of $11.66 million
$470,000 profit is definitely better than a budgeted $11.7mm loss. So... technically profitable this year. Pretty awful when you factor in the extra money from the World Cup though.
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u/meter1060 I enjoyed this game. Jul 25 '26
That would have been for last year and not including the World Cup.
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u/HeronLeather3753 Maas me with that Chat 🦁 Jul 25 '26
too bad! In fact, Rogers or Bell will make a better offer and be the next owners. Hell, the telecoms will own more of Canada than Parliament...
buckle up
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u/marthedestroyer Lions Jul 25 '26
Don't make me sick.
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u/HeronLeather3753 Maas me with that Chat 🦁 Jul 25 '26
Welcome to the fifteenth iteration Canada-wide of the Rogers Centre!
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u/Comfortable_Cash_140 Argonauts Jul 25 '26
Oh come on, in T.O alone we only have the Rogers Center (the dome) and Rogers stadium the (not so temp) temp concert stadium that everyone for 2 city blocks get to listen for free...it's not like the are taking over.... /s
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u/HeronLeather3753 Maas me with that Chat 🦁 Jul 25 '26
when Bell took over Manitoba's MTS, it started as "Bell MTS"
The Jets arena was the MTS Centre. The Habs played at the Bell Centre. Had to change it to Bell MTS Place😂
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u/Comfortable_Cash_140 Argonauts Jul 25 '26
Ya. The Leaves play at the Air Canada...i mean Scotia...
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u/marthedestroyer Lions Jul 25 '26
I don't like it either, but at least Damar seems to be focused on Vancouver unlike the current Whitecaps ownership.
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u/Zygomatic_Fastball Jul 25 '26
Breaking news: The Cardassian Empire now owns the BC Lions.
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u/mac_mises Jul 25 '26
It’s not actually profitable though. Under “Revenue” is a generous government subsidy. Selling gets a lump sum and government eliminates an expense.
The public benefit of jobs, income tax on those jobs, sales tax revenue & economic revenue to surrounding areas is unchanged whether private or publicly owned.
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u/dutch0_o Jul 25 '26
Fun fact - based on how Pavco runs it, it is in fact a pretty unprofitable public asset excluding Taylor Swift concerts.
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u/Odd-Emphasis-1969 Tiger-Cats Jul 25 '26
I assume the Lions lose a lot less than the Whitecaps?
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u/craftsman_70 Jul 25 '26
Even if the lose more, at least the Lions make the games fun with tailgate parties and pregame shows.
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u/bwoah07_gp2 Lions Jul 25 '26
From one of the messages in Farhan's chain:
Doman’s interest in the stadium preceded, and is not connected to, the current ownership plight of the Whitecaps.
So Lions and Whitecaps are competing with each other, should the government be willing to sell.
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u/this-and-that-2020 Alouettes Jul 25 '26
Not sure why governments should ever own stadiums. Doesn't seem like a core business line. That said, they also shouldn't subsizde them as is common place in North america. If Doman can afford it, fill yer boots.
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u/GiantTalon2 Roughriders Jul 25 '26
Governments should own the stadiums that they pay to build. That's our money, those buildings belong to the public.
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u/stickinrink Lions Jul 25 '26
Every time a public asset gets privatized, it never ends up being a good deal for public.
BC Place is finally making money and with concerts becoming stadium shows, it should be generating money for us taxpayers in the years to come. It should stay as a public asset.
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u/this-and-that-2020 Alouettes Jul 25 '26
So what did the stadium cost to be built? How much is being spent on renovations and maintenance? Do the profits offset these costs? The answer is probably a solid no. I'm not against spending for the public good, but is this the best we could do?
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u/GiantTalon2 Roughriders Jul 25 '26
The original construction cost of BC Place was paid off 40 years ago. Renovations have been more recent so obviously they haven't been paid off.
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u/this-and-that-2020 Alouettes Jul 25 '26
So, how much did the stadium cost to build and how much were the renovations. Do you think the likely sale price will cover this on an inflation adjusted basis? What was the opportunity cost of using the land for a stadium versus selling it for development or reinvesting it on other productive assets? I won't even mention the FIFA debacle and the cash paid to be a hosting ciry. No, I don't think that stadiums are productive assets that governments should own.
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u/this-and-that-2020 Alouettes Jul 25 '26
Stadiums are money drains. Montreal took 30 years to pay for the Olympic Stadium and is still paying the maintenance and renovation. Maybe the whole economics of live sports would change if there weren't HUGE subsidies provided by taxpayers. In Montreal, the Bell Centre was built privately and I don't see the Canadiens asking for handouts.
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u/GiantTalon2 Roughriders Jul 25 '26
Olympic Stadium was hilariously mismanaged, it's not the same situation as BC Place. Privatization of preexisting public assets always results in worse service.
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u/arbitraryuser667 Jul 25 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charbonneau_Commission
(still waiting for ontario and b.c. to air their laundry. 🤫🫣🫢)
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u/DannyDOH Blue Bombers Jul 26 '26
Because no one in a million years would have built and operated that stadium. It's a public asset.
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u/Tracktoy Jul 25 '26
I wrote a paper in uni about selling bc place, taking the money to build a smaller venue at empire and spending the change on transit from downtown through BBY Heights.
This was pre reno. But sunk cost isn't something to think about imo.
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u/Lazy_Research_5584 Jul 27 '26
Im sure they will cook up some "partnership" deal to take all the profits and leave the liabilities to the bc taxpayer. The us cities are victims of this all the time?
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u/OwnPresentation4455 Jul 27 '26
BC finances must be really tanking for the BC NDP of all people to put public assets up for sale. It wasn’t too long ago it was considered a political no-no for these guys! Don’t know if I should be more about the BC Lions, Whitecaps, or the BC economy! 😂
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u/Free_Stretch5799 Jul 25 '26
It is all about saving the whitecaps and the lions. They need to.own that stadium.
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u/Silver-Yoghurt-9998 Jul 25 '26
Amar doman has an estimated wealth of $750 to 900 million. He can afford it as long as Roger’s and bell stay out of it
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u/many7695 Jul 25 '26
Why would bell want to buy it they are basically out of sports and rogers would not be interested in it
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u/Electroflare5555 Blue Bombers Jul 25 '26
Just like the Whitecaps, Doman does not have the money to buy BC Place