Asper’s plan a must or Blue’s future grey

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/03/2010 (5664 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Somewhere in the ongoing negotiations concerning the building of a new football stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is the topic of ownership — primarily, when and if David Asper will take over operation of the club.

Asper is still the passionate Bombers supporter who dreams about owning the team and returning it to its days of glory. And he’s still the fans’ best bet in terms of securing the future of the franchise if he can make his deal go.

If Asper doesn’t gain control of the Bombers, it’s hard to imagine the organization moving forward as a healthy entity able to compete in a CFL that is getting richer elsewhere.

Perhaps there’s another wealthy individual or outfit looking to own a football team with major stadium issues, but at this point, Asper has a deal with the club that does not expire until October.

At this point, in the absence of anyone else stepping forward with a fat chequebook in hand, Asper is still key to the future of Blue Bombers football.

The deal has always hinged on Asper’s retail development concept to be built at the old stadium grounds near Polo Park, and the fact it hasn’t worked out as planned could affect the quality of a new stadium. The Elms project proposed by Asper’s Creswin Properties was supposed to be the economic engine that fuelled both the new stadium and the Bombers going forward. Right now, there’s no motor and the chassis is in peril as a result.

Premier Greg Selinger said Monday Canad Inns Stadium is facing $52 million in repairs in the next few years and it’s clear a new facility is required. The days of throwing good money after bad at the old park are over and Selinger is hoping to make a name for himself by bringing this deal into the barn.

Selinger confirmed Monday that negotiations with the football team, the City of Winnipeg, Ottawa and Creswin are ongoing to get a deal that would see construction on a new ballpark at the U of M begin this summer.

Asper’s stadium concept called for $100 million of private money and $35 million of public cash to build a 30,000-seat stadium with all the bells and whistles.

The $135-million price tag for the prescribed stadium always seemed low to us, but shortfalls in stadium construction are part and parcel of this type of process.

The reported $100-million-plus figure being discussed to throw up a scaled-down version of Asper’s concept is alarming at best. Spending the next 50 years watching football in a low-bar stadium isn’t what anyone wants.

But if the government has to go it alone on this project, that’s maybe what we get.

The Bombers have been have-nots for some time, and moving to a new stadium built on the cheap and without other revenue streams won’t change that for the fabled Blue and Gold.

Throw in the possibility of an NHL franchise one day returning to this city and the siphoning effect it would have on corporate dollars spent on sports and entertainment and the pitch to success gets even steeper.

Think 20 years without a title is a long time? Here’s a news flash for you — it takes money to win championships. Money the team hasn’t had in a while and money it won’t have going forward if healthy, private ownership isn’t the new economic model.

The Blue Bombers board of directors made the decision private ownership was the only way to get a stadium built and protect the team’s long-term future.

They were right. Asper came along with a vision that included a new stadium and a retail development which won the board of over and they chose Creswin’s plan rather than another put forth by Leo Ledohowski and Canad Inns.

Asper’s concept, if it worked, would make the Bombers flush with cash and able to compete with the Edmontons, Montreals and (gasp) the Saskatchewans of the CFL.

Asper’s vision called for a high-end shopping operation at Polo Park, but it has yet to bear fruit.

Not too long ago, the club’s prospects seemed so promising with talk of a new home and ownership with a steady revenue stream to keep the club well financed.

Maybe those days are still around the corner, but they’re much harder to envision. So is the thought of the Bombers returning to their days of glory as a CFL power.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca