Own the Leafs!

[mr ozzie]

It's bad enough for the board to be meddling with hockey operations, it's going to be even worse when it's owned by a thousand idiot arm-chair GMs.

[Wickabee]

If it proved legitimate, I would do it in a heartbeat. You are not going to find a better "Blue chip" investment. Like them or not, they are a money-making venture with nothing but upside growth.

That was my first thought but going further into it:
Let's say you do, in fact, reap dividends. Great! You're entitled to 1/1,000,000 of 66%. That means if the team makes $100,000,000 profit you're entitled to a whopping $66! At that rate you'd make your money back in only 16 short years. After that, it's allllll gravy.
This of course hinges on my math being right.

[30ranfordfan]

As much of sheer lunacy as the idea of this is (don't want to sound like I believe otherwise) remember that the Teachers are NOT selling 2/3s of the Leafs. They're selling 2/3s of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Leafs are only 1 asset. The Raptors, ACC, Toronto FC (Soccer), BMO Place (Soccer Stadium), and MLSE's real estate holding are all part of the company.

2 billion is probably pretty close.

I don't think it's all that attractive from a personal or investment standpoint.

Sure, the Leafs currently produce some nice return for the teachers' union, but I don't know if the franchise is really worth close to $2 billion. They weren't even listed above the $1 billion mark in the last Forbes survey if I remember correctly. They would likely pay some decent dividends assuming that everything continues to run smoothly, but there are other investments out there where I'd rather put my money. There are many franchises that seem more attractive.

On a persona level, I don't see the attraction of owning less than one one-millionth of a sports franchise. Sure you get a vote for the Board of Directors, but it's not like any of us commoners are going to end up being elected. And if we did, I'm not sure how qualified many of us would be when it comes to running a large business like this one.

Seems like just another silly excuse for someone to get their 15 minutes.

[Craig2]

As much of sheer lunacy as the idea of this is (don't want to sound like I believe otherwise) remember that the Teachers are NOT selling 2/3s of the Leafs. They're selling 2/3s of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Leafs are only 1 asset. The Raptors, ACC, Toronto FC (Soccer), BMO Place (Soccer Stadium), and MLSE's real estate holding are all part of the company.

2 billion is probably pretty close.

Thanks, I admittedly completely missed that. In that case, the cost does seem much more justified, at least on the surface. I'd first like to check at least their financial statements and notes, but I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to just write the cheque.

[habsheaven]

I simply look at it as having ownership in a sports franchise. Even the worst of those appreciate in value. For that reason only, I think it would be a wise investment that would be hard to match in any other sector.

[durangatang]

Any other thoughts?