Bombers’ financials worthy of a touchdown celebration dance

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/04/2016 (3775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been decades, and save for the odd blip — such as the time Jeff Reinebold was introduced as head coach while riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on stage — the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have almost always had their collective thumbs on the mute button when it comes to fanfare.

Remember, Bud Grant used to tell the lads back in the day to “act like you’ve been there before” when they crossed into the end zone and felt the urge to do anything other than walk over to the official and hand him the ol’ pigskin. That unofficial commandment has seemingly seeped into any approach the CFL franchise has taken in the last two to three decades on those rare occasions it had cause to celebrate.

Two of those rare occasions have come in the last few days when the financial results from both the 2015 Grey Cup and the 2015 CFL season were announced.

The first press release sporting the Blue Bombers letterhead came Monday morning under the headline: “Winnipeg Football Club generates $7.1 million of net profits from 103rd Grey Cup.”

And the second came less than 48 hours later: “Winnipeg Football Club posts operating profit of $4.4 million in 2015.”

Just for the record, there was no string of exclamation marks accompanying the announcements and certainly no happy face or thumbs-up emojis sprinkled throughout the details. 

And we’re just guessing had the team’s bean counters been introduced at Wednesday’s annual fan forum, the moment wouldn’t have come with Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild blaring and the crew rumbling out on the backs of new Hogs.

Although come to think of it, that would have been a cool touch.

For all the wrong the Blue Bombers have done over the last few years (15-39 since the start of 2013), this week’s profit announcements are certainly worthy of more than just those dullsville, straight-by-the-book headlines.

Remember, this is a record financial score — “Bombers post $11-freaking-million profit!!” would have been my headline — for a CFL franchise that began the millennium some $5.3 million in debt.

Just to hammer home this further, we busted out some old stories from May 25, 2000, when Bombers office staff had to bring their own toilet paper to work and wondered each day if either the heat or the lights — or both — would be cut off for good.

Not only were the Bombers coming off a 6-12 season in 1999 — the third in a row without playoff football — they posted an operating loss of $1.5 million, pushing the accumulated deficit to a grotesque $5.3 million.

On top of that, then-president Lyle Bauer was asking the football operations department to shave $500,000 from its budget, and the club had just finished a year in which injured players still dressed to fill out the roster and replacements weren’t airlifted in to save costs. And the team had just emerged from two save-the-franchise drives in four years.

Even during the latest glory years — the stretch from 1984-93 when the club won three championships and appeared in five Grey Cup games — the franchise earned a reputation for being notoriously cheap. Stories include Robert Mimbs heading to Eaton’s to buy new socks on game day, and the late, great Tyrone Jones bringing up the double whammy of meatless spaghetti sauce in the pre-game meal and having to wear Mack Herron’s jock.

So to go from $5-plus million in debt, and on the endangered-franchise list while playing at an antiquated and deteriorating stadium, to posting an $11-million profit is nothing short of remarkable.

All of this isn’t to suggest Wade Miller & Co. put their feet up on their desks Wednesday and lit up some celebratory stogies.

Last year’s numbers were boosted by the presence of the Grey Cup game (which stops here roughly every decade or so), and seven FIFA Women’s World Cup games — all part of what Bombers chief executive officer Miller called “an extraordinary year.”

There is that meaty annual $4.5-million mortgage payment to deal with, along with $1.5 million in stadium improvements, and the local transit issues that continue to cost the club a small fortune.

But this isn’t your granddad’s team anymore. It’s more than just a football club trying to make ends meet or stay afloat, it’s a sports AND entertainment business trying to squeeze every last dollar out of Investors Group Field while changing its long-standing image as being cheap beyond belief.

The announcements this week are a testament to that, a financial touchdown certainly worthy of a spike in the end zone.

It’s long past due for the football team to start delivering on the field, too.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: WFPEdTait