The Stelco steel mill sits behind workers hanging a Ford banners above Ivor Wynne stadium in preparation for Saturday's Vanier Cup game in Hamilton, Ont., on Friday, November 26, 2005. The bankrupt steelmaker continues to favour a $900 million Deutsche Bank rescue plan which requires Stelco to retain it's Ford and Daimler Chrysler business after losing General Motors, it's largest customer, earlier this week. (CP PHOTO/J.P. Moczulski)J.P. Moczulski/The Canadian Press
The fight over the location of Hamilton's proposed Pan-Am Games Stadium has raised the possibility of the CFL's Tiger-Cats moving out of town.
This week, in the midst of a facilitation process between the Tiger-Cats and the City of Hamilton, the city received a proposed memorandum of understanding with Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz that would give him management control of the Pan-Am Games stadium.
A vote on that proposal is not slated until late August but the city's dealing with Katz infuriated Tiger-Cat owner Bob Young and team president Scott Mitchell.
And it also apparently led some neighbouring municipalities to explore whether the Tiger-Cats might be willing to leave Hamilton and bring the stadium with them.
"I got several calls from mayors and leaders of municipalities that wanted an intro to Scott and Bob, which I did," said Hamilton businessman Ron Foxcroft, a significant player on the city's sports and business scene. "I will not say who they are because I would be betraying confidence. But that's that truth."
In May, the Tiger-Cats and the city agreed to go to a facilitator to settle their differences on the stadium, both where it should go and how it should be managed.
But whatever trust existed between the city and the football team appears thin.
"I was told [by other municipalities]that negotiating the management of the new stadium [with Katz]appears to undermine the facilitation process," said Foxcroft. "I will say it has created a terrible and confusing state in our municipality."
Mitchell would not comment on what municipalities have reached out to him or whether Young would consider pulling the Tiger-Cats - and his related business, MRX sports marketing - out of Hamilton.
But he admits the team is frustrated by the city's recent actions involving Katz.
"Bob Young's instructions to me are to exhaust every possible option in Hamilton and we are getting to that point," said Mitchell. "Bob's commitment to the franchise is ever-lasting and the Ticats will be alive and thriving well into the future, regardless of the location."
Less than a week from when a facilitator is to recommend a location for the new stadium, the issue is becoming more complicated by the day.
Pan-Am Games chief executive officer Ian Troop has said having the stadium in Hamilton makes no sense without the Tiger-Cats involved. And yet the Tiger-Cats, who desperately need a new home because of the decay at Ivor Wynne Stadium, insist that the city's preferred location in the West Harbour doesn't make financial sense to them.
The city's deal with Katz appears to serve its need to have a potential new owner for the Tiger-Cats in case Young threatens to walk away from the franchise.
Mitchell, however, says Young is not considering that option.
"The Tiger-Cats are not for sale under any circumstances," said Mitchell.
The most logical municipalities for the Tiger-Cats to move to would seem to be nearby Oakville, Burlington or Mississauga.
"We're proud of how friendly and warm and welcoming we are, but we haven't imagined having the Tiger-Cats in Oakville," Mayor Rob Burton said. "They're welcome to visit, though."
With a report from Ann Hui