Sports1131

(Yes, I read this, really the only one in this stupid thread. I respect the opinions of Expos fans very much. One of the better members of the MB.com community through 03-05 (and hopefully 06) was an Expos fan. Different from Sports1131, but that's beside the point, Sports1131 posts on some Nats boards I frequent and handles himself most times with class in a threatening environment of frothy Senators fans with a sense of entitlement unheard of in South Florida.) I'm not going to question his feelings on Loria and Samson, those are his own although completly different from mine and not too unexpected IMO. However, I will question his attempt to rewrite history as quoted above. The move to pull radio and TV was to force the broadcasters to increase their repulsive offer - using the demands from fans to come to agreeable terms to encourage the broadcasters to come back with a better offer. That it did not have an effect tells you a lot about the demand for Expos baseball in Montreal. Not that I blame them, the franchise had been a lame duck since Brochu destroyed the franchise back in the mid 90s and been on a downward path since MLB gave Toronto exclusive shares of affluent English-speaking markets in Ontario in the early 80s, which Bronfman, the original owner, recalls was the most damaging event in the destruction of Montreal as a baseball market. When it gets that bad, there's no point in holding onto land for a stadium that was looking increasingly likely it wasn't going to get built, and if it was it would have a drastically scaled back design of a drastically scaled back design and little hope that it might make staying in Montreal profitable. There is no future and no expenses to be earmarked for it. While I despise Loria (and especially the midget), I'm still not 100% convinced they entered Montreal with absolutely no intention of making things work. If that's the case, the only possibility is they are completely incapable of successfully running a Major League franchise. With that said, I do think it is a distinct possibility that Loria cancelled the English radio deal just to get a better price, but I do think it was a pretty insane thing to do. He should have proved he was committed to putting a winning team on the field and let some trust build between the fans and the teams after the nightmarish Brochu era before trying to increase profits. And let's be honest, if the Expos were going to get a significant broadcasting deal, it would have been with the French stations. This is a quote from one of the Expos boards: Today, [Mitch Garber] joined Mitch Melnick for about an hour and a half on the Team 990. One interesting bit he mentioned was that, in the year of no Expos radio, he had arranged a meeting with Samson with the aim of purchasing the radio rights. This was unusual in that radio stations, not intermediaries, usually buy the rights. Garber did not go into this, but I guess he figured he could handle selling spots or he'd find someone to do it. Anyways, he made a half-hour appointment; Samson was 20 minutes late but Garber managed to get the pitch in, only to be summarily dismissed. The short of the story is that, according to Garber, Samson had no interest in getting the Expos on the air that year.

Expos fan here - it's nice to see you guys are starting to come around with regards to the scumbag you have for an owner. His biggest mistake, both in Florida and in Montreal, is letting Samson control the team. The guy infuriates everybody he talks to and is probably the last person on the planet I'd want trying to negotiate a stadium deal. When you're asking for hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for pretty much nothing, you can't send in somebody that's so widely disliked. I think it's pretty sad that once again the fans will probably be blamed for the demise of a team while Loria gets to move on to city #3 (and if it's San Antonio, that's a joke). True, fan support was far from good in Montreal in the Expos' last decade of existence and there's definately been problems in Florida, but his management team does an excellent job killing off any public goodwill. When Loria bought the Expos, everybody thought he was our saviour. Opening Day attendance was the highest it had been in a long time and the Expos were the talk of the town after years of being simply an afterthought. Then, he hired Samson to run the team over the objections of every single minority partner, pulled the team off English radio (and now we learn refused to talk with a powerful Montreal businessman trying to put them on the air), and declined to keep paying a very small annual fee to reserve a piece of land for our new stadium right near the Bell Centre in the downtown area. I do think Loria probably is financially capable of running a successful franchise, but until he ditches the midget he will never be anything but a loser. I'm sorry to see that you will probably lose your team after very similar mismanagement.

At least Montreal can welcome back............... the EXPOS? :confused :blink: I wish, but no chance in hell.

He didn't say move them to Montreal (though I'd love to hear that as much as I hate the midget), he said they'd start with the second-place finishers from the Expos relocation bids.

Is there a link to listen online?

I don't really expect the Marlins to move, at least not for awhile, but you are wrong about Loria. He tried to move the Expos to Washington in 2001 but MLB refused to let him get all the profits from doing so (instead MLB blackmailed a completely free stadium out of Washington and will be able to sell the team for a huge profit). When Selig refused, Loria threatened to sue MLB and somehow the whole shady franchise-swap was worked out. Loria may like Florida, but he likes Washington better.

It is indeed over. The last hope of Expos fans is now completely dead. Enjoy baseball, I know I've watched my last ever MLB game.

The stuff I just posted is from the official complaint. I don't remember the original URL to the file, but I downloaded it a long time ago and put it on my server if you want to read the whole thing. http://download.sportsgi.com/rico_suit.pdf You can see it mentioned today on Slam! Sports (Canadian site). http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/Steve.../14/714565.html REVELATIONS: It will be a big day tomorrow in the ongoing saga of the Montreal Expos. It's expected arbitrators will announce tomorrow if the former limited partners in the Expos have a case against Jeffrey Loria and Major League Baseball. The former partners are claiming there was a conspiracy to reduce their ownership in the club, paving the way for Loria to sell the Expos to MLB and take over the Florida Marlins. There is a report Loria tried to buy his way out of this mess for $15 million, but it was rejected by the former owners. The Expos' move to Washington is already in trouble. Things could get even more interesting in the next few days ... A new name for the Expos in Washington? How about "Defendants?" REVELATIONS: It will be a big day tomorrow in the ongoing saga of the Montreal Expos. It's expected arbitrators will announce tomorrow if the former limited partners in the Expos have a case against Jeffrey Loria and Major League Baseball. The former partners are claiming there was a conspiracy to reduce their ownership in the club, paving the way for Loria to sell the Expos to MLB and take over the Florida Marlins. There is a report Loria tried to buy his way out of this mess for $15 million, but it was rejected by the former owners. The Expos' move to Washington is already in trouble. Things could get even more interesting in the next few days ... A new name for the Expos in Washington? How about "Defendants?"

Actually, the Expos had English broadcasts UNTIL Loria arrived. He was not satisfied with the money and instead of negotiating, he pulled the team off the air. Business support has not been great for the Expos, but the 14 partners ARE leading business people in Quebec. Also, they had a great sponsorship deal with Labatt in the works for $40 million as well as $100 million from the government to help pay for a stadium until Loria killed the deal. As far as the cash calls are concerned, you're right, it was in the document. However, that was forced into it by Major League Baseball which makes it seem like this was his plan all along. The partners aren't contending that Loria didn't have the authority to issue cash calls, but their agreement was according to some document that outlined their plan to bring in new investors and fund a new stadium (in the court document it's called CIM-18). In there, it states: 50. By February 1999, the 1991 Canadian Partners entered into discussions with Jeffrey Loria to become the principal new investor and managing general partner of the Expos. Specifically, both Mr. Loria and Mr. Samson were asked to support the plans that ultimately were set forth in CIM-18, with Mr. Loria agreeing to become the managing general partner (through an entity under his control) and to provide, through himself and other U.S. investors, CA$75 million in new equity for the franchise. 51. During these negotiations with Mr. Loria and Mr. Samson, plaintiffs repeatedly advised them that the plan was that the 1991 Canadian Partners would not have to contribute additional cash to the Expos franchise for at least several years, and that additional capital was to be provided through the CA$150 million in new equity that was to be raised -- CA$75 million from Mr. Loria and the other new U.S. investors he would provide, and CA$75 million from new Canadian partners. Plaintiffs also advised Mr. Loria and Mr. Samson that the plan was for the Expos to build a new stadium, as set forth in CIM-18, and remain in Montreal. 52. During the negotiations in 1999, including in several telephone communications between the United States and Canada, the Loria Defendants indicated to plaintiffs that: (1) they did not intend to move the Expos from Montreal; (2) they were supportive of the plan to build a new stadium to secure the future of the franchise in Montreal; and (3) they were in agreement with the fundamental business strategies and plans for the team that were eventually set forth in CIM-18, and that Mr. Loria would follow those business strategies and plans as managing general partner of the franchise. 53. Plaintiffs reasonably relied upon these representations by the Loria Defendants. However, those representations were false. Specifically, upon information and belief, the Loria Defendants intended from the very beginning not to keep the Expos in Montreal, and instead to destroy the ability of the Expos to survive in Montreal in order to relocate the team to the United States. They also intended to use their misrepresentations ? including those by international wire and mail ? to induce the plaintiffs to give Mr. Loria the power to control the Expos and to dilute the ownership interests of plaintiffs. 54. But for the fraudulent representations and material omissions made by the Loria Defendants and their representatives ? as further supported by the false representations of the MLB Commissioner Defendants that they too would support the Expos remaining in Montreal -- plaintiffs would not have entered into the sale and partnership agreements with the entities controlled by Mr. Loria. 55. Those representations by the defendants were false when made, and were made with malice by the defendants. Plaintiff reasonably relied upon those representations, and those representations had the effect of fraudulently inducing plaintiffs to enter into the transactions with the entities controlled by Mr. Loria that gave him control over the Expos. 56. In the Fall of 1999, Mr. DuPuy and other representatives of Mr. Selig and the OCB communicated to representatives of plaintiffs that Major League Baseball could not wait for the owners of the Expos to finalize all aspects of the recapitalization of the franchise discussed above in Paragraph 46 and that it was essential to put Mr. Loria?s entity in place as the new managing general partner of the Expos before the end of the year. Further, Mr. DuPuy and other representatives of Mr. Selig and the OCB communicated to plaintiffs that Major League Baseball would not approve the transaction being contemplated unless the partnership agreements included provisions which would give Mr. Loria the power to issue mandatory cash calls on the limited partners. At the time of these communications, the MLB Commissioner Defendants continued to misrepresent that they supported the plans for keeping the Expos in Montreal eventually set forth in CIM-18. These representations and material omissions were made, in part, through international telephone calls and/or mails. 57. Under extreme pressure from the MLB Commissioner Defendants to close the transaction, plaintiffs agreed that the recapitalization would be accomplished in two steps, with Mr. Loria purchasing his minority interest and an entity under his control becoming managing general partner first, and the remainder of the recapitalization from the new Canadian Partners and Mr. Loria occurring thereafter. 58. At the insistence of the MLB Commissioner Defendants, plaintiffs also agreed to include in the first step a mandatory capital call procedure that would be under the direction of an entity controlled by Mr. Loria. However, the Loria Defendants represented to plaintiffs and their representatives that no such capital calls would be necessary for at least several years in view of the recapitalization that was going to take place with the new investors. 59. Accordingly, on December 9, 1999, plaintiffs and Mr. Loria executed documentation through which a new limited partnership was formed to own and operate the Montreal Expos franchise, with an entity owned by Mr. Loria acquiring approximately 24% of the franchise for CA$18 million (approximately US$12 million), a price that was subsidized by plaintiffs. In that same transaction, Loblaws, 98362 Canada (together with Pharmacie Jean Coutu (PJC) Inc.), and Bronterra (the predecessor of Esarbee) each contributed CA$1 million in capital to acquire their individual interests, with the understanding that they would be investing additional monies as part of the second step of the recapitalization. These agreements -- fraudulently induced by the Loria Defendants and the MLB Commissioner Defendants -- gave Mr. Loria the power to destroy the Expos? ability to attract new investors and remain in Montreal, and the power to make immediate capital calls that could be used to dilute the ownership interests of the plaintiffs in favor of Mr. Loria. 60. Upon information and belief, when Major League Baseball approved the above-described transactions between Mr. Loria and plaintiffs on December 9, 1999, Mr. Selig, Mr. DuPuy and the OCB had already determined that their plan was to eliminate major league baseball in Montreal. Neither Mr. Selig, Mr. DuPuy nor the OCB informed plaintiffs of these material facts, and plaintiffs reasonably relied upon those misrepresentations and omissions in deciding to proceed with the transactions with Mr. Loria. 61. Immediately after Mr. Loria became a minority owner and an entity under his control became the managing general partner of the Expos, he, Mr. Samson and others took action to begin effectuating their plan to destroy the viability of major league baseball in Montreal, with the objective of moving the franchise to the United States. 62. On January 17, 2000, at the first meeting of the new Expos partnership, and only five weeks after the transactions with Mr. Loria closed: (1) Mr. Samson (who had been appointed Executive Vice President of the Expos by Mr. Loria over the objections of plaintiffs) advised the other partners that the Expos games in the upcoming season likely would be unavailable on either local television or radio in Montreal, because Mr. Loria would not accept the terms upon which such broadcasts had previously been conducted; (2) Mr. Joel Mael, Mr. Loria?s financial representative, stated that a new capital call on the current partners would have to be immediately commenced, notwithstanding the previous representations by the Loria Defendants that this would not be necessary for at least several years because of the planned second stage recapitalization; and (3) Mr. Samson indicated that complimentary tickets would no longer be made available to sponsors (even though excess tickets were available and the support of sponsors was essential to the team?s success and continued viability in Montreal). 63. At the same time, the Loria Defendants continued to falsely represent that they were proceeding with the new stadium plans in good faith, that they would follow the plans set forth in CIM-18, and that they intended to keep the team in Montreal. Indeed, at the January 17 meeting, the Chief Financial Officer of the Expos stated that the expenses forecast for the 2000 season would be those referenced in the partnership agreement signed on December 9, 1999. Following the January 17 meeting, the Loria Defendants continued to represent to plaintiffs, including by international telephone calls, that they were working in good faith on the new stadium and the agreed upon plan to keep the team in Montreal. Those representations were false, and were made with the specific intent to deceive plaintiffs. 64. Then, on March 17, 2000, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, at the second meeting of the Expos partners: (1) Mr. Loria reiterated that the games in the upcoming season likely would be unavailable on either local television or radio in Montreal; (2) Mr. Mael reiterated that a capital call on the current limited partners would occur, notwithstanding the pendency of the recapitalization effort; (3) Mr. Loria and Mr. Mael distributed new financial projections that were completely at variance with the tenets of CIM-18, effectively destroying the recapitalization effort and making the addition of any further capital from either the 1999 Canadian Partners or new Canadian investors impossible; and (4) Mr. Loria stated that the Canadian investors would need to fund the equity needed to construct a new stadium in downtown Montreal "up-front? before he would disclose to the investors his plans for operating the franchise based upon the new financial projections he distributed (a situation in which no rational person could invest). At the same time, the Loria Defendants continued to omit and conceal the material fact that their intention was to move the Expos out of Montreal rather than build a new stadium. 65. Thereafter, the Loria Defendants took further steps to destroy the future of the Expos franchise in Montreal. For example, at the direction of Mr. Loria and Mr. Samson, the Expos abandoned local television and English-language radio coverage for the 2000 season, and Expos games were broadcast on French-language radio in Montreal only because of the efforts of several of the plaintiffs. The Loria Defendants also took positions that were designed to poison the Expos? relationship with Canadian governmental authorities. The actions of the Loria Defendants killed the efforts for a new stadium, alienated fans, and effectively destroyed the Expos? future in Montreal. 66. As a result of the actions of the Loria Defendants, in May 2000, plaintiffs offered to buy-out Mr. Loria at the same price he had purchased his interest, and to take back control of the Expos. Mr. Loria adamantly refused and said he would never sell his interest.

've also heard that there's a chance that if Loria loses, the Marlins could be off to Montreal or Washington. I highly doubt you will lose your team, just wanted to let you know of one possibility. 614138[/snapback] Doubt that ever happens... MLB doesn't want to lose the Bandwagoning Miami Market... 614140[/snapback] I agree, I don't think the court would turn over the Marlins, but if they do cost Loria $71 million, who knows what could happen. I don't think he can afford that kind of loss (that's why I wanted to know how much he has) and build a stadium, and no team can survive on the kind of lease terms the Marlins have at Pro Player Stadium.

Maybe if you guys showed up at the games he wouldn't have had to try and screw you guys. He knew it was a sinking ship he wanted to make $$$ to buy a more respectable franchise, like the 2 time World Champion Marlins. 614132[/snapback] I hope the court believes what you just said, because that is exactly what the rightful owners of the Expos are saying. Loria bought into the team with false intentions and never had any intention of keeping the team in Montreal. I've also heard that there's a chance that if Loria loses, the Marlins could be off to Montreal or Washington. I highly doubt you will lose your team, just wanted to let you know of one possibility. I do feel bad for you guys though, it sure sucks how bad some of the people are running this sport. It sure would be nice to be able to concentrate solely on the on-field action. MarlinFan, I don't know how you can criticize the Expos attendance with a straight face. Two years ago the Marlins had the worst attendance in Major League Baseball until an anonymous person (read: David Samson) bought 15,000 tickets to finish just ahead of Montreal. And this is a team that had won a World Series in the recent past. I don't blame the fans in either city for not putting up good numbers at the gate, they were not treated with any respect whatsoever.

From what I've read MLB would pay most of the damages. And, yes, it would likely ruin the Malins' stadium plans. 614118[/snapback] So Monday could determine the future of Marlins baseball in Miami? That sucks. The Marlins might be ruined because of some retarded Canadians.....great. Yet another reason to invade Canada. 614122[/snapback] As a Canadian I find that very offensive. Maybe if your owner hadn't tried to screw over Montreal you wouldn't be in this mess.

I agree with you, these guys were AWFUL during their tenure in Montreal. However, when Loria bought his 24% of the Expos they had a new stadium in the works and had already set up some government support as well as a $100 million naming rights deal from Labatt. When Loria entered the partnership, so did three new Canadian investors for $1 million each. Loria claimed he would bring in other foreign investors to replace the guys who were no longer interested (the same guys who refused to put up any money pre-Loria) and the new Canadian partners were also supposed to invest additional money after he brought in the new guys. However, Loria went back on his word (he said he would not issue cash calls for a couple of years until the new investors were brought in) and immediately demanded $40 million. Most of the 14 partners want nothing to do with baseball, but apparently there are three interested still (Routtenburg, Bronfman, and one other I don't know).

I'm just curious, do any of you guys have any idea how much money Jeffrey Loria has? I'm an Expos fan and am anxiously awaiting the arbitrator's decision in the case against Loria launched by the 14 former majority owners of the Expos franchise. The decision should be announced on Monday and it will have a huge impact on the future of the team. I know most of you have written them off as definately moving to Washington, but it's not a done deal yet. If we win in arbitration, the partners will seek an injunction to keep the team in Montreal until the RICO suit is copmleted. If all three counts are in the partner's favor, Loria will have to pay up $71 million, which sounds like an awful lot for someone who is considered one of the least wealthy owners in the game. I'm wondering if this could affect the Marlins plan for a new stadium as it is quite a bit of a financial hit. Some people call the case frivilous, others say it has merit. I believe they have a case, but I'm biased. Loria is apparently worried about this too, as he offered $15 to settle and was immediately rejected. I have absolutely NOTHING against you Marlins fans, but I wan't to see Loria go down here.

It isn't right that you guys are playing as the visiting team in both games at Wrigley, but you can thank Bud Selig for that. The Expos had a "home" game in Puerto Rico rained out and rescheduled for August 9th in Montreal. However, ESPN wanted to air a Giants-Cubs game (seems to me that Chicago likes to cause problems...) and somehow it resulted in the Expos game being moved to San Francisco instead. The Expos were told they would be the home team for one of the games of the double header, but the day before the umpire told Frank Robinson this was not the case. The team held a team meeting before the double header and almost forfeited the game, but decided against it. That's where the precident was set and it's clearly unfair. Not only to the Expos and Marlins, but all teams in the wild card chase since it gives the Giants and Cubs extra home games.