An artist's rendition of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers proposed stadium is shown in a handout photo.
When Ossama AbouZeid arrived in Winnipeg from Egypt in 1974 to study physics, he was a rabid soccer fan who didn't think much of what North Americans called "football."
"For me it was really crazy," AbouZeid recalled this week. "What kind of a game do you need to have a helmet to play? It's not a sport."
AbouZeid was headed for academia back then. He earned a PhD in physics, a degree in engineering and an MBA. But then he was sidetracked into the business world and spent more than 25 years running a construction company that built homes, hotels and grain storage bins across Eastern Europe and serving as an executive with Buhler Industries, a Winnipeg-based farm-equipment maker.
Through it all, though, AbouZeid became "Canadianized" about sports and a fan of the CFL and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in particular. "In 1977, I came here [to Canad Inns Stadium]to my first football game and since then I've come back," he said.
In a twist of fate, AbouZeid is now interim chief executive of the Winnipeg Football Club, which owns the Bombers, and he's guiding the community-owned entity through the biggest transformation in its 81-year history.
On Sunday, the Bombers will play their last game in Canad Inns Stadium, a run-down 30,000-seat facility built by the city in 1953. The team will move to a $190-million venue across town at the University of Manitoba that will hold up to 40,000 people. It's all part of a plan to turn the Winnipeg Football Club into an entertainment company along the lines of True North Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Winnipeg Jets.
The new stadium, which is owned by the provincial government, the university and the Bombers, has been controversial for years. An original stadium plan developed by Winnipeg businessman David Asper fell apart last year when costs soared. The provincial government stepped in and backed a revised plan with the Bombers taking on about $85-million in debt. AbouZeid, 62, was then brought in to get the project back on track.
It won't be easy. While the Bombers have a solid fan base, the club has lost money in three of the last five years and managed to turn a profit in 2010 thanks mainly to extensive cost cutting.
The new stadium is slated to open next June and it should generate extra revenue. The bowl design will have canopies covering 80 per cent of the seats and there will be a state-of-the-art sound and video system. There are also 47 luxury suites and around 5,000 paid parking spots. The club will manage the facility in return for free rent for the Bombers, and it hopes to hold several rock concerts and other events to bring in additional cash. An air-supported dome will also cover the field during winter for year-round use.
"We still have to sell every last seat," said AbouZeid, who added that all the suites have been sold. "However, our long-range business plan, which we projected last year, will allow us to pay the debt. The biggest thing for this project is to be on time and on budget."
The old stadium near the Polo Park shopping mall will be torn down, something AbouZeid admits will be sad. "It's a landmark of the city and very emotional to lots of people here," he said. "All my Canadian life I am here. Polo Park is really in everybody's heart. It will be really very tough to go away. But also the excitement [of a new stadium]will take over."
The relaunch of the Winnipeg Jets will also cut into the local entertainment market, but AbouZeid said the hockey team is helping the Bombers by boosting the city's overall profile. The Jets "have made people excited about sports in the city and made people more proud of what's happening in the city," he said. He even tried to get season's tickets to the Jets, but couldn't.
AbouZeid isn't sure if he wants to take on the CEO job for good. But he is certain of one thing. When asked to name his favourite sport, he didn't hesitate: "Of course, football."
Paul Waldie