The Argos to play at BMO Field beginning with the 2016 Canadian
Football League season
TORONTO, May 20, 2015 /CNW/ - Bell
Canada and Larry Tanenbaum's
Kilmer Group today announced their agreement to jointly acquire the
Toronto Argonauts Football Club of the Canadian Football League
(CFL) from sports entrepreneur David
Braley. Financial terms of the transaction, expected to
close on December 31, 2015, were not
disclosed.
"The Argos are an important team for this great city and a
crucial component in the ongoing success of the Canadian Football
League. We're delighted to invest in the most successful Canadian
pro football team of all time, and look forward to seeing the
Boatmen play at beautiful BMO Field next year," said Larry Tanenbaum, Chair of Toronto-based investment company Kilmer Van
Nostrand Co. Limited and Chair of Maple Leaf Sports and
Entertainment (MLSE).
"Bell is proud to welcome the storied Argonauts club to our
team. The Argos and the entire CFL are key to Bell Media's
unbeatable array of sports content available to fans across
broadband mobile, TV and Internet platforms," said George Cope, President and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE Inc. "Bell has made the
industry-leading network and content investments required to
deliver the best sports action across every screen consumers may
choose. We look forward to cheering on the Double Blue as the 2015
CFL season begins next month on TSN and RDS."
"The Argos could not have found better new owners than
Larry Tanenbaum and Bell, who are
dedicated to bringing the best of sports to Canadian fans
everywhere in innovative ways. We welcome them as an important new
part of Canada's national football game," said David Braley, the renowned sports entrepreneur
and retired Senator who has owned the Argos since February 2010. Mr. Braley is also owner of the
CFL's BC Lions franchise. "I look forward to a great 2015 CFL
season with the Argos, and to formally welcoming Bell and Larry Tanenbaum to the League when they
assume ownership at the end of the year."
"This is wonderful news for the city of Toronto and one of our most venerable
franchises, and with the Toronto Argonauts moving to a renovated
BMO Field in 2016, it is the start of a bold new era for our league
in Canada's biggest market," said Jeffrey L Orridge, Commissioner
of the Canadian Football League. "On behalf of our Board of
Governors, I want to welcome Bell
Canada and the Kilmer Group, thank David Braley for his lifelong devotion to our
league, and recognize CFL Chairman Jim
Lawson, who has worked tirelessly and passionately behind
the scenes to help make this historic day possible."
"I am excited that the Double Blue will be making their return
to The Exhibition grounds in a state-of-the-art facility," said
Mayor of Toronto and former CFL
Commissioner John Tory. "The
Argonauts' move to BMO Field will ensure Canada's oldest and most
celebrated football franchise continues to succeed."
Bell Media's TSN and RDS sports networks have exclusive media
rights to all CFL pre-season and regular season games, the
Playoffs, and the Grey Cup. The agreement includes TV broadcast,
digital properties as well as radio rights for TSN Radio stations
in Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Vancouver. TSN has broadcast CFL games since
1986 and French-language network RDS since 1989. TSN and RDS became
exclusive broadcasters of the CFL and Grey Cup in 2008.
The Argos will begin playing at BMO Field beginning with the
2016 CFL season. Located at Toronto's Exhibition Place and operated by
MLSE, BMO Field is also home to MLSE team Toronto FC of Major
League Soccer (MLS). Extensively refurbished for the TFC home
opener on May 10 and the upcoming
Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, the
updated BMO Field ensures an optimum playing surface for both MLS
and CFL football with features including reinforced natural
turf.
Founded in 1873, the Toronto Argonauts are North America's oldest continuously operated
professional football club and the oldest pro sports team of any
kind on the continent that still operates with its original
name.
The Argonauts have won the CFL championship game a record 16
times, most recently at the 100th Grey Cup in 2012. The
team is nicknamed the Boatmen because it was founded by the
Argonaut Rowing Club, which owned the club for its first 83
years.
About Kilmer
For over 40 years the Kilmer Group, owned
by Toronto businessman
Larry Tanenbaum, has been helping to
build Canadian businesses through long-term funding and leadership.
This has included areas as diverse as heavy construction, building
products, cable television, publishing, electronics manufacturing,
food processing, sports, clinical research organizations,
environmental rehabilitation, and infrastructure development.
Current infrastructure projects include the development of the Pan
Am Athletes' Village in partnership with DREAM, and the design,
build, and operation of the ONroute Ontario Highway Service Centres
with partners HMS Host and Canadian Tire. For more information,
please visit www.kilmergroup.com
About Bell
Founded in Montréal in 1880, Bell is
Canada's largest communications company, providing consumers and
business customers with wireless, TV, Internet, home phone and
business communications services. Bell Media is Canada's premier
multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out of
home, and digital media. Bell is wholly owned by Montréal's BCE
Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE). For more information, please visit
Bell.ca.
The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health
with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns, like Clara's Big
Ride for Bell Let's Talk and Bell Let's Talk Day, and significant
Bell funding of community care and access, research, and workplace
initiatives. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
SOURCE Bell Canada