11/29/2004 12:02 PM ET

Blue Jays buy SkyDome

By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com

tickets for any Major League Baseball game

 

 

SkyDome was one of the first arenas with a working retractable roof. (Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

 

The phrase "buyer beware" has yielded to "lease, be gone." The Blue Jays announced on Monday that they had acquired their home field -- SkyDome -- from Sportsco International.

 

The stadium is the largest entertainment venue in Toronto, capable of seating up to 55,000 people. The final sale-price will be approximately $25 million in Canadian funds, subject to closing adjustments. It should all be official by the end of December.

 

"The purchase of SkyDome is an opportunity for us to acquire a tremendous asset at an extremely attractive price," said Paul Godfrey, Toronto's president and CEO. "But more importantly, we will now have significantly better control over our product and the fan experience."

 

The Jays will now gain far greater control over revenues from concessions and ticket prices, in addition to being able to control the very facility where they play. This arrangement should help turn around the club's flagging financial fortunes -- the lease was often cited as a hindrance in balancing the books.

 

In addition to baseball, SkyDome is also the site of several other performances and sporting events -- ranging from the Canadian Football League to car shows and concerts. SkyDome was also one of the first arenas with a working retractable roof, which has made it an all-weather success.

 

"This will enable us to measurably improve the efficiency of our business operations," said Godfrey. "This is a win-win deal for the Jays' fans and for the ball club. We are all very excited about what this means in the future."

 

Spencer Fordin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

At one time, SkyDome was considered to be a feat of human engineering. (It still is!) It once housed the Blue Jays, the CFL's Argonauts Football Team, the NBA's Toronto Raptors, hosted soccer, motorcross, concerts, dances, and almost anything else you can think of.

 

Now with the Blue Jays owning it, the Raptors located at the Air Canada Centre, and the Argos getting ready to move into new digs for themselves...the Blue Jays may even be able to renovate it and install natural grass.

If the Blue Jays profit in 2005 like expected from this deal, expect the Marlins to spike payroll up big time in 2006.

Info on Argonauts' new stadium: http://www.canoe.ca/Argos/News/2004/10/17/673554.html

SkyDome will install FieldTurf for next year and a new scoreboard, other changes are being debated by architects. Also being considered painting the seats green.

 

The changes being debating for making the concourses more modern, because the owner has complained that the concourses now are somewhat tacky and outdated. They also want to add more light into the stadium by possibly putting windows in the roof. They are also considering adding lights to light up the roof so it won't look so dark.

 

 

As for the natural grass, that's a big if. That biggest problem now are all the events held at SkyDome. The second biggest issue is how you get the adequate amount of sunlight into the park to keep it alive. Remember the Astro Dome was originally built for natural grass and it still didn't survive.

 

 

Only 25 million Canadian,eh? That's like $200.00! What a steal, eh.

 

Hopefully this ushers in a new era of Blue Jays baseball.

If the Blue Jays profit in 2005 like expected from this deal, expect the Marlins to spike payroll up big time in 2006.

623038[/snapback]

 

 

Didn't the Blue Jays lose something like $45,000,000 last year?

If the Blue Jays profit in 2005 like expected from this deal, expect the Marlins to spike payroll up big time in 2006.

623038[/snapback]

 

 

Didn't the Blue Jays lose something like $45,000,000 last year?

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C$9 million

Say hello to the Staples SkyDome? Rumors fly...immediate renovations must start soon for 2005.

Say hello to the Staples SkyDome? Rumors fly...immediate renovations must start soon for 2005.

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The Field Turf MUST be finished in time for 2005 says MLB. They will fly in the turf used in Montreal for SkyDome.

 

That would totally kill the name. IMO SkyDome is one of the coolest names for a sports venue.

Only 25 million Canadian,eh? That's like $200.00! What a steal, eh.

623044[/snapback]

Actually my friend that's $21,037,015.81 in US Dollars... :thumbup

 

About $1 billion in Taiwan New Dollars... :plain

I liked the skydome before they did these changes, they defiantley need some wider concourses. I really liked the Hard Rock Cafe that over-looked the field, you could watch the whole game for 5 dallors canadian in the HRC. I do not see why they need a new scoreboard because they won they have now is huge and awesome. Hopefully they do not take the hotel, restaurants, and movie theatre out of it because those are the things that make the skydome so special.

I liked the skydome before they did these changes, they defiantley need some wider concourses. I really liked the Hard Rock Cafe that over-looked the field, you could watch the whole game for 5 dallors canadian in the HRC. I do not see why they need a new scoreboard because they won they have now is huge and awesome. Hopefully they do not take the hotel, restaurants, and movie theatre out of it because those are the things that make the skydome so special.

623214[/snapback]

those things make money and won't be taken out. The scoreboard is dying off and being replaced now will save money and face. They will upgrade it to HD like the rest of their main telecast equipment. Rogers spends lots of money on tech and will soon on the Blue Jays if this gets done.

I liked the skydome before they did these changes, they defiantley need some wider concourses. I really liked the Hard Rock Cafe that over-looked the field, you could watch the whole game for 5 dallors canadian in the HRC. I do not see why they need a new scoreboard because they won they have now is huge and awesome. Hopefully they do not take the hotel, restaurants, and movie theatre out of it because those are the things that make the skydome so special.

623214[/snapback]

those things make moeny and won't be taken out. The scoreboard is dying off and being replaced now will save money and face. They will upgrade it to HD like the rest of their main telecast equipment. Rogers spends lots of money on tech and will soon on the Blue Jays if this gets done.

623240[/snapback]

 

Well, have the Jays renewed their T.V. contract with Rogers Sportsnet?

I liked the skydome before they did these changes, they defiantley need some wider concourses. I really liked the Hard Rock Cafe that over-looked the field, you could watch the whole game for 5 dallors canadian in the HRC. I do not see why they need a new scoreboard because they won they have now is huge and awesome. Hopefully they do not take the hotel, restaurants, and movie theatre out of it because those are the things that make the skydome so special.

623214[/snapback]

those things make moeny and won't be taken out. The scoreboard is dying off and being replaced now will save money and face. They will upgrade it to HD like the rest of their main telecast equipment. Rogers spends lots of money on tech and will soon on the Blue Jays if this gets done.

623240[/snapback]

 

Well, have the Jays renewed their T.V. contract with Rogers Sportsnet?

623241[/snapback]

Yes, Rogers owns both just to keep the SportsNets to air the Blue Jays and the Blue Jays for something to air on the SportsNets. Mariners TV also is likely to return to Rogers in the Pacific sector.

Rogers buys SkyDome

 

 

The Canadian cable giant buys the only real estate in Toronto that has dropped in value in the past 15 years.

 

TORONTO (CP) -- Once seen as a world leader, SkyDome has fallen to the point where it is now worth only slightly more than the Blue Jays paid their star first baseman last season.

 

Rogers Communications, owners of the Toronto Blue Jays, are spending just $25 million to buy SkyDome from Sportsco International, a Chicago-based group of investors.

 

"A very fair price," said Blue Jays CEO Paul Godfrey.

 

It's a fraction of the $580 million the stadium cost to build. But the aging 50,000-seat stadium has been steadily going down in price since opening in 1989. It sold for $151 million in 1994 and Sportsco paid $80 million when it bought SkyDome out of bankruptcy court in April 1999.

 

Monday's sale does not include the SkyDome hotel, which Sportsco previously sold in 1999 to Renaissance for about $31 million.

 

Quizzed about the bargain-basement price for the domed stadium, Godfrey said the price reflected "the cash flow it can generate. It's not on what (it) cost to build it."

 

Sportsco wasn't interested in addressing the low sale price.

 

"We have a tremendous amount of passion for this facility but recognize it is in the best long-term interest for all parties to have common ownership for both the facility and the baseball team," Sportsco representative Harvey Walken said in a statement.

 

Still Godfrey could not ignore the irony that 20 years earlier he was part of the government bureaucracy that paid out of its ears to build the stadium.

 

"When I was chairman of Metropolitan Toronto some 20 years ago, in February of 1984, I know Metro Toronto put in the first $30 million and if someone had told me back then the price for the total building would be cheaper today than the price of the first down payment, one may have been a little amazed," he said at a news conference at SkyDome.

 

The Jays finally join the other 29 Major League clubs who either own or operate their facilities, which they believe will be a major bonus down the road.

 

Control of SkyDome gives the Jays better access to stadium revenues from parking and concessions, among other sources.

 

"If I was to roll back the clock of time, I would have advised Mr. (Ted) Rogers not to buy the team unless he owned the facility," Godfrey said.

 

He said the team had been trying to buy the stadium for four years but that serious talks began four to five months ago.

 

Rogers inherits the original land lease deal SkyDome had negotiated with government officials back in the 1980s, an agreement that sees another 84 years on the lease.

 

Godfrey said the Jays don't expect to benefit financially from owning the stadium in 2005, but hope to see an increase in revenue in years following next season.

 

Concessions, for example, had been split between the concessionaire, the team and the SkyDome.

 

"Now all of those revenues that were split before between Sportsco and the Blue Jays will all come to the Blue Jays," Godfrey said.

 

The Jays are buying the stadium for essentially what they spent on one player alone last season in Carlos Delgado ($19.7 million US -- $23 million Cdn).

 

While Rogers got the SkyDome for a bargain-basement price, it remains to be seen whether the Jays will be able to avoid the losses that Sportsco reportedly endured.

 

Re-naming SkyDome will fetch a few dollars.

 

"The naming rights belong to the organization and no decision has been made on a name for a building at this time," Godfrey said. "We're going to try to take a fresh approach on that."

 

When SkyDome opened in 1989, it was the envy of the baseball world -- a state-of-the-art facility that continually packed in more than 50,000 fans a game. The Jays broke baseball records with more than four million fans per season in '91, '92 and '93.

 

Last season the Jays drew 23,455 per game, its highest average in five years.

 

As it turns out, SkyDome was among the last of its kind. Baseball moved back to more traditional-looking stadiums -- such as Camden Yards in Baltimore, Jacobs Field in Cleveland and The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas -- and multipurpose facilities gave way to specialty stadiums.

 

Now the Jays want to make SkyDome more baseball-friendly, promising to upgrade the playing surface and replace the Jumbotron with a newer model.

 

"At some point in the future we would feel a lot better if we could diminish the concrete look of the building," Godfrey said.

 

"Over the longer term we expect to improve the way the fans experience the game itself."

 

The timing of the sale had no link to last month's announcement by the Toronto Argonauts that the CFL club was leaving SkyDome and moving to its own new $70-million outdoor stadium in 2006.

 

"No, not really," Godfrey said. "I wish the Argos would stay here. If they have a change of heart they're welcome back."

 

The SkyDome sale is expected to close in December.

 

The ball club, meanwhile, inched closer to profitability last season. The Jays will likely post an operating loss of somewhere between $7 million and $8 million for 2004 -- boosted by league revenue sharing, a higher Canadian dollar and a slimmer payroll.

 

That's less than half the near-$18 million the club lost in 2003.

 

The Jays' financial improvement came as the team's on-field performance skidded. The team finished with a disappointing 67-94 record, placing it last in the AL East, after an 86-win season in 2003.

 

Off the field, the loonie is proving lucky for the Jays. The Canadian dollar closed at 84.32 cents US Monday, which is significant for the Jays since player salaries are paid in American dollars. The company can now buy U.S. greenbacks to reduce a foreign-exchange loss on salaries paid next season.