Courtesy of Dr. CFL

Asper’s deal for Bombers nearly done: Franchise will soon become private business
Scott Taylor
National Post

David Asper can now see the light at the end of a 14-month-long tunnel, a light that will result in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers ending 75 years of community ownership.
"Yes, I will soon take over sole ownership of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers," Asper said late last week. "But I say 'yes' as part of the overall proposal for a new stadium. I believe now, that in due course, there will be a new stadium."
It is somewhat of a bold position for Asper, the chairman of the National Post and executive vice-president of Canwest Communications, and a man who first presented his plan to privatize the CFL franchise and build a brand new 40,000-seat stadium, back in early January of 2007.
For months, through an often difficult negotiation with the city and provincial and federal governments, Asper was hesitant to answer in the affirmative when asked if he believed he was ever going to take over the team he has cheered for since childhood.
Last Thursday, however, during a lengthy interview in Winnipeg, he admitted that the deal is almost done. "Soon," he said, "the community-owned Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be privately owned and a new stadium will be under construction.
"Over the past year, me, members of my team, Lyle Bauer and the members of the Blue Bomber board of directors, have made a compelling case that, as a matter of public policy, there is an issue here that must be addressed," Asper said of the 53-year-old Canad Inns Stadium.
"I now believe that after months of negotiation and discussion at various levels, that intelligent people will get this done.
"All three levels of government are willing to make the commitment and are looking at how this project will come together. Where there is a will, there is a way. Over the period of time we've been making our position known, there has grown a better understanding that [a new stadium] is a benefit to the community ? that it's not just a benefit to the football club but to the entire community."
Asper plans to spend $65- million of his own money, with an additional $80-million in public funds, to build a stateof- the-art 40,000-seat football stadium, plus a retail mall in which all profits will go to the football club in order to guarantee the team's long-term future in the community. (The entire project can be viewed at http://www.blueandgold.ca/) The one sticking point is government commitment. The federal and provincial levels have promised no more than $30-million each. Asper wanted them to match the $40-million he plans put into the $120-million stadium plan.
"We will still try to make the case for the original $120-million concept," Asper said. "I guess there is always a chance that the project could end up being smaller, more modest, than the original plan. But I
will try to make the argument that it's worth working toward the original design. Historically, this is a 50-year project. We build it, it has to stand for 50 years.
"I guess, when we have all the cards on the table, we'll see what the money will get us."
One thing seems certain -- the Bombers will soon lose their "community-owned" designation and become a private business. Although there could be more community involvement than there was with the old community ownership.
In Asper's original plan, the public will actually own the stadium; the University of Manitoba football program will be a major beneficiary of the project; amateur sports organizations will be given free use of the building as a training facility during the winter months; and the public will have access to the team's stateof-the-science training and medical facilities.
For Winnipeg, that could be the best news of all.