Blue Bombers post $3.5-million operating profit in 2019

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This article was published 13/05/2020 (2276 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are facing a daunting year ahead as the CFL remains in limbo due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But that inevitable damage should be lightened a little by a successful run in 2019.

The Winnipeg Football Club released its annual financial report Wednesday, announcing a $3.5-million operating profit in 2019. That’s an increase of nearly $900,000 from the previous year.

They also have a relatively healthy reserve fund, which has around $4.1 million in cash and more than $9 million when you factor in cash equivalents.

“Very positive year in 2019 and obviously being the Grey Cup champions and having that run definitely helped us,” WFC president and CEO Wade Miller told the Free Press in a phone interview. “Just complete credit to both our team on the field and our team off the field for executing and delivering these types of results.”

Miller pointed to two main reasons for the spike in profits from last year, which came in around at $2.6 million in 2018.

The first was a massive increase in merchandise sales, which began as the Bombers entered the playoffs and continued after winning the Grey Cup. It was the first CFL title for the Bombers in 29 years and the team’s faithful didn’t disappoint, setting a league record for Grey Cup merchandise sales.

“We did over 5,500 online orders,” said Miller, noting these figures don’t include sales at the pop-up store in St. Vital and the main store at IG Field. “Tremendous, tremendous support from around the world and especially within our city and province.”

The other main boost to the bottom line was the result of hosting a Week 3 NFL pre-season game in August between the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. The game turned out to have a number of issues, but the WFC, which only provided the venue and was given a fixed payout, saw its stadium management revenue jump by $890,000.

“Hosting those types of events makes a big difference for us,” Miller said.

Miller said he tries to get one or two of those big-ticket events at the stadium every year, though that can be a challenge at the best of times. Fewer and fewer concerts are operating in outdoor venues and so the opportunities beyond hosting a home playoff game or a Grey Cup can be few and far between.

The Bombers, who finished third in the West Division with an 11-7 record, had to travel for all three games en route to winning the Grey Cup. That means they had to incur the costs associated with playing away from home, including flying out family members for the championship game in Calgary.

The swing in hosting a playoff game versus being the visitor can have a significant impact.

“That range is, depending on the crowd, anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 when hosting a home playoff game,” Miller said.

Although the home team does help offset the costs of travel for the visitors in the playoffs, it doesn’t cover everything. Home teams also keep the money from ticket sales. The Bombers also needed to outfit their players and staff with Grey Cup rings.

That should help explain the $2-million increase in expenses, from $30.8 to $32.8 million. Revenues, which were up $2.9 million from 2018, came in at $36.3 million.

Revenue from ticket sales was also slightly down, dropping just a shade under $400,000. Miller prefers to view that figure as being mostly stable with 2018, noting much of that loss would have been recuperated if not for a heavy snowfall for their Oct. 12 game against the Montreal Alouettes taking a major dent out of their walk-up ticket sales.

Speaking of the Alouettes, the Bombers, along with seven other CFL teams, had to chip in to keep Montreal afloat last season. The Alouettes were owned by the CFL, meaning each club had to chip in $657,600. The team has since been sold.

“The Montreal Alouettes franchise is one that is important to the league and important to us as teams and we needed to support that operation,” Miller said. “Now it’s been taken over by a great ownership group. People in Montreal should be excited.”

A stadium payment of $2.2 million — based on the WFC’s available excess cash as of Dec. 31, 2019, as defined in and required by the club’s management agreement — was also made to Triple B Stadium Inc. When combined with the support given to the Alouettes, the WFC profit margin — excess revenues over expenses — drops to $588,860.

While the numbers remain strong, the level of uncertainty looming over the 2020 season owing to the coronavirus has to be troubling for an organization that works tirelessly to finish in the black. It’s been especially difficult for the Bombers after seeing an increase in new season ticket members following their Grey Cup victory.

A Free Press report from earlier this month shows the Bombers could end up losing as much as $10 million in the event of a cancelled season. The CFL has started to lobby the federal government for as much as $150 million of aid in the event the 2020 campaign is completely wiped out. There is good reason to believe any public money loaned or gifted to the CFL would then be distributed to the nine member teams and applied to their respective losses.

Main training camps were supposed to begin on Sunday. With the best-case scenario now a mid-September start to the season, Miller said remains hopeful that football will return again this season.

“We’re doing everything we can to find a way to play some football this year,” Miller said. “We’re a gate-driven league and we’re going to do everything we can to find a way to do it safely for our players and our fans. We’re working really hard across the league for that.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton