More bad news about the Bomber's books....
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sport...654/story.html
Bombers to announce $1M loss in 2009
By Ed Tait, Winnipeg Free PressApril 7, 2010
im Bell would just as soon hit the delete button on the entire 2009 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season and wipe the nightmare from everyone's memory.
Instead the last official image of '09 will be painted in red as the new Bombers president will announce this morning a huge loss on last year's operations believed to be close to -- if not in excess of -- $1 million.
"It's not good news," began Bell on Tuesday. "We don't want to ever operate in the red -- because of a variety of circumstances -- we will report a sizable loss for last year."
A number of factors piled up against the Bombers last season, not the least of which were a 7-11 record that saw them miss the playoffs -- and subsequently lose out on about the $250,000 that comes with playing host to a post-season game -- and the repeated hits the brand took following a series of negative off-field stories. Rock bottom came after a 55-10 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in front of a sold-out home crowd, and the aftershock saw the Bombers play to two of their lowest crowds in a decade.
"I don't need to repeat and rehash everything that happened last year, but we had some situations that we really started to notice after the Banjo Bowl where we got beat up pretty good at home by our archrival," said Bell.
"Three of our next four games after that really hurt us at the gate where we had crowds in the 21,000-22,000 range.
"(The brand) absolutely took a beating. Here's an example: Jerseys are the top ticket in our retail store and back in '06-'07-'08 the Stegall-Roberts-Glenn jerseys were flying off the racks. Last year we had some great performances by Fred Reid, Jovon Johnson ... but because of some of the on-field and off-field things that transpired, it took away from the brand and those sales suffered. And, as a result, it took away from our income statement.
"We are making every effort to restore our brand and improve it. I'm not just giving you a line here ... we are working extremely hard to improve, for example, the game-day experience. We're not going to use the excuse that this old stadium is holding us back."
Remarkably -- and this says something of the organization's fan support and its ability to take a punch -- Bell said the team is marginally ahead of last year at this time in terms of season-ticket sales and corporate sponsorship.
And because the football club's net surplus heading into 2009 was in excess of $5 million, it can take the shot, as vicious as it is, without the franchise going back on life support.
Couple that with last week's announcement of the new stadium project and the excitement a new building brings, and the organization at least able to temper the doom and gloom.
"We're going to put 2009 in the rear-view mirror (today)," said Bell.
Bombers to announce $1M loss in 2009
By Ed Tait, Winnipeg Free PressApril 7, 2010
im Bell would just as soon hit the delete button on the entire 2009 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season and wipe the nightmare from everyone's memory.
Instead the last official image of '09 will be painted in red as the new Bombers president will announce this morning a huge loss on last year's operations believed to be close to -- if not in excess of -- $1 million.
"It's not good news," began Bell on Tuesday. "We don't want to ever operate in the red -- because of a variety of circumstances -- we will report a sizable loss for last year."
A number of factors piled up against the Bombers last season, not the least of which were a 7-11 record that saw them miss the playoffs -- and subsequently lose out on about the $250,000 that comes with playing host to a post-season game -- and the repeated hits the brand took following a series of negative off-field stories. Rock bottom came after a 55-10 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in front of a sold-out home crowd, and the aftershock saw the Bombers play to two of their lowest crowds in a decade.
"I don't need to repeat and rehash everything that happened last year, but we had some situations that we really started to notice after the Banjo Bowl where we got beat up pretty good at home by our archrival," said Bell.
"Three of our next four games after that really hurt us at the gate where we had crowds in the 21,000-22,000 range.
"(The brand) absolutely took a beating. Here's an example: Jerseys are the top ticket in our retail store and back in '06-'07-'08 the Stegall-Roberts-Glenn jerseys were flying off the racks. Last year we had some great performances by Fred Reid, Jovon Johnson ... but because of some of the on-field and off-field things that transpired, it took away from the brand and those sales suffered. And, as a result, it took away from our income statement.
"We are making every effort to restore our brand and improve it. I'm not just giving you a line here ... we are working extremely hard to improve, for example, the game-day experience. We're not going to use the excuse that this old stadium is holding us back."
Remarkably -- and this says something of the organization's fan support and its ability to take a punch -- Bell said the team is marginally ahead of last year at this time in terms of season-ticket sales and corporate sponsorship.
And because the football club's net surplus heading into 2009 was in excess of $5 million, it can take the shot, as vicious as it is, without the franchise going back on life support.
Couple that with last week's announcement of the new stadium project and the excitement a new building brings, and the organization at least able to temper the doom and gloom.
"We're going to put 2009 in the rear-view mirror (today)," said Bell.
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