Bombers record operating profit of $3.9 million in 2014

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This article was published 08/04/2015 (4140 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers recorded an operating profit of $3.9 million in 2014, the club announced this morning.

That’s an increase of $1 million on the $2.9 million profit the club recorded in 2013.

While profits were up significantly in 2014 — and so were revenues, which jumped 10.7 per cent — the club still had to withdraw $575,914 from its savings to make its $4.5-million mortgage payment last year on Investors Group Field.

But even with the withdrawal, the Bombers finished 2014 with an operating reserve of $1.595 million and a total of $7.369 million in the bank — a number that could almost double later this year when the Bombers host the Grey Cup.

Bombers CEO Wade Miller told the Free Press this morning that the team is budgeting to earn a profit of somewhere between $5 to $7 million on hosting the Grey Cup in November.

“Hosting the Grey Cup will only add to our surplus and give us financial stability for years to come,” said Miller.

Miller downplayed the fact the Bombers had to draw on their savings in 2014 to make their mortgage payment. He noted the club had several significant “one-time expenses” in 2014 that won’t be repeated.

While Miller didn’t specify those expenses, a new collective bargaining agreement between the CFL and its players last year required the Bombers to pay signing bonuses in 2014 of $7,500 per veteran and $1,500 per rookie. That would have added up to somewhere between $300,000-$350,000 in bonuses paid out by the Bombers last year which won’t be repeated for the life of the 5-year agreement.

Miller said the club’s expenses and revenues should now stabilize moving forward and the financial picture that emerged from year 2 at Investors Group Field has him confident the team will have no difficulty making its annual $4.5-million mortgage payment moving forward.

“Absolutely,” said Miller. “And what Investors Group Field allows us to do is to build even further on our surplus moving forward.”

Game revenue in 2014 was $10.01 million, down slightly from $10.27 million in 2013. Season ticket sales were down last year to 20,150 from 24,000 a year earlier. That decline was expected after record season ticket sales in 2013 in what was the Bombers inaugural season at Investors Group Field.

The season ticket decline in 2014 was counter-balanced by a significant increase in game-day ticket sales last year, thanks to a Bombers team that was much more competitive on the field after a 4-14 inaugural season at IGF in 2013.

Miller said season ticket sales for the 2015 season are ahead of last year’s pace and Grey Cup ticket sales, which are at this point still restricted to Bombers season ticket holders, are on target right now.

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Corporate revenue in 2014 soared to $16.7 million in 2014 from $13.9 million in 2013. Much of that increase was thanks to a new TV deal with TSN that pays the Bombers almost triple what they received under the previous deal.

The team’s operating expenses were up $1.6 million in 2014. The Bombers say almost half of the increase — $735,000 — went towards football operations, with much of that going to players salaries that rose under a new CBA that raised the salary cap from $4.4 million in 2013 to $5.0 million last season.

There was also a $1.1-million jump in operating expenses for the new stadium in 2014. Miller said some of that went to increased utility costs last season, but the bulk of it was simply a $700,000 charge the team put on its books for depreciation.

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek