Argonauts' co-owners mull selling the team

Toronto Argonauts co-owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are considering putting the CFL club up for sale, the duo confirmed in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

The combination of back-to-back losing seasons and a less than sympathetic response from the CFL board of governors on the issue of revenue sharing has prompted the pair to weigh options. They've also shifted their attention in the sports industry to the NHL as financial backers of the Ice Edge group seeking to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes. Ownership of the Coyotes has yet to be determined by a bankruptcy court in Phoenix.

Aside from an outright sale of the Argos, an alternative is to take on new partners.

Persistent rumours around the CFL have B.C. Lions owner David Braley possibly selling his club to take control of the Argos. However, sources close to the Lions say a deal isn't imminent.

Braley, a resident of Burlington, Ont., helped bring the Argos out of bankruptcy in 2003 under a clandestine arrangement with Cynamon and Sokolowski. After The Globe and Mail exposed that deal last June, the CFL amended its bylaws to require that the commissioner be made aware of financial agreements between teams. Asked if the arrangement between Braley and the Argos remains in place, league spokesman Matt Maychak said the CFL does not discuss the private business of its owners.

Braley communicates regularly with Argos president Bob Nicholson. The two met at the Lions' practice facility in Surrey, B.C., when Toronto played at Vancouver last month. Braley said the two met to discuss best business practices.

Braley's son Robert was also on hand for the game against the Argos. For years there's been speculation that Braley's children will own a CFL team eventually, and sources say David Braley has privately expressed an interest in one day owning the Argos.

Braley has said on several occasions that when the time comes to sell the Lions, he will look for a football fan with a community mindset, someone who will be a trustworthy caretaker. He has estimated the value of his franchise at $15-million, and says as many as 15 interested parties exist, half residing in B.C.

One such person is Vancouver Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini, who is interested in buying the Lions and had lunch with Braley last month.

"It's not for sale now," Braley said when approached recently about the Lions. "When the time comes, I'll pick the person with the same passion as me. And he'll have to look after it properly. He doesn't have to be local, but it's preferable."

In theory Braley could control both teams. The CFL constitution does not prevent an individual from owning more than one team.

Beyond Braley, there are no obvious suitors for the Argos, although Rogers Communications, which owns the Rogers Centre and the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, could realize efficiencies by combining marketing, sales and other departments.

Before the construction of BMO Field, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment expressed some interest in the franchise.

Cynamon and Sokolowski bought the Argos out of bankruptcy late in the fall of 2003, and breathed new life into a team that had been all but abandoned by the marketplace.

They championed the cause of building a new stadium, first at the University of Toronto and later at York University, but were unable to make either of them a reality.

The pair were seen as white knights and were the only suitors for the Argos when they rode to the rescue in the fall of 2003 after it had been run into the ground by previous owner Sherwood Schwarz.

The Argos reached the East Division final in each of the first four years Cynamon and Sokolowski owned them, winning the Grey Cup in 2004. However, in the past two years, the team has won just seven of 32 games under three different head coaches. At 3-11 this season, they are virtually assured of missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Though the Argos' revenues have since improved significantly, the team reaps little revenue beyond ticket sales at Rogers Centre, making break-even an annual challenge.

The Argos owners, in conjunction with Hamilton, asked the CFL board of governors to adopt a revenue-sharing model that would reflect the relative value of Southern Ontario to its television and national sponsorship deals. That request was rejected in favour of the status quo, in which television and national sponsorship deals are evenly divided among the teams and teams keep their local revenues without sharing.