Montreal, city of sports? | How to insert Montreal in the “short list”?

The arrival in Montreal of major professional basketball or baseball franchises is anything but imminent. How can the metropolis change the situation? The Press discussed it with Michael Fortier, Vice-Chairman of the Board of RBC Capital Markets, Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, and Philip Merrigan, Professor in the Department of Economics at UQAM .

Where are the Major League Baseball or NBA franchise records?

” Off. This is how Michel Leblanc described the situation in an interview published on Saturday in The Press. All signs point to an expansion to Seattle and Las Vegas for the NBA. As for Major League Baseball, nothing has been announced. However, in a recent interview, the commissioner of the circuit, Rob Manfred, seemed enthusiastic about the idea of ​​a potential expansion… but never mentioned the name of Montreal.

Michael Fortier : The commissioner spoke of Nashville, but not of Montreal. It struck me and disappointed me.

Philip Merrigan : In the case of baseball, once Montreal lost its franchise, there was almost no chance that it would come back. The costs of building a stadium and buying a team have become outrageous.

What amounts are we talking about?

In both cases, the figure most often mentioned is 2 billion for the acquisition of a franchise. In baseball, it can be speculated that building a state-of-the-art stadium would cost up to $1 billion extra. A basketball team could set up shop at the Bell Centre.

Where and how to find this money?

This is, unsurprisingly, a major challenge. Although past projects have generated enthusiasm in the business community, no Quebec fortune is large enough to acquire a new franchise on its own. The group led by Stephen Bronfman was aiming for joint custody with Tampa. An NBA team would require foreign investment.

Philip Merrigan : Let’s say a franchise costs $2 billion. When we make this kind of investment, we expect profits of more than 100 million each year. It is enormous. And there is a risk associated with that. […] I don’t necessarily think that[un investisseur majeur] would lose money, because there are many sources of income, with TV and all. It would be good. But it takes more than being profitable, unless people want to have a franchise so badly that they’ll be willing to have lower returns.

Michel Leblanc : In the case of basketball, very quickly, we came to the conclusion that it would take an international multi-billionaire player. You won’t find it in Montreal. So there were steps with Michael Fortier and Kevin Gilmore [gestionnaire sportif bien connu qui a notamment été président du CF Montréal], we went to meet potential investors. We are talking about huge fortunes.

What about the Montreal market itself?

This question is not simple either. Because regardless of the sport to be implemented, spectators, individuals and corporations, will be needed. However, it is difficult to have a real portrait of the situation.

Philip Merrigan : When we look at the relative situation of Montreal in terms of average consumer, it remains quite low in the North American hierarchy. In Canada, the average disposable income in Montreal is not that different from that of Winnipeg, for example. […] For the past five or six years, there has been a certain stagnation in the average income in Canada. In the United States, it is increasing at a much faster rate. Our relative position is not improving against major US markets. […] I think we would be able to sell tickets. But to justify investments of this order, how much would the price of the tickets be? That would probably be higher than hockey prices.

Michel Leblanc (reacting to the comparison with Winnipeg): In reality, you don’t need the whole population to fill a stadium of 35,000 people. What we need in our demographic base is enough people who can afford to go. There, in my opinion, we get away with it. […] Collectively, we are winning with new sectors of activity. We are at the heart of a struggle for positioning in strong sectors where salaries are good. There is a whole segment of the population where the increase [de revenus] is real.

Michael Fortier : In North America, Montreal is in the second third of major cities, and it is one of the few with only one major professional team. [LNH, NBA, NFL ou MLB]. Milwaukee has basketball and baseball. The Green Bay Packers are not far away. Many cities smaller than Montreal have more than one team. […] The ability of citizens [de s’acheter des billets] or that of companies to pay for season tickets or lodges is not a problem.

If the financial obstacles are surmountable, then where is the main obstacle?

Our speakers talk about “circumstances” and “networking” to pursue. The city, in some circles, is not well enough known. Old perceptions still need to be changed.

Michel Leblanc : We met people who had the perception of a Montreal of the 1990s and 2000s, on the decline. We introduced them to the city’s new sectors of activity, such as artificial intelligence, and we left with the impression of having made it possible to rediscover a more dynamic Montreal. For me, it’s a good investment. […] It is a long process to reverse an impression of relative degrowth.

Michael Fortier : Montreal must be presented beyond its economic capacity. We need support from stakeholders who have nothing to do with Montreal. Owners, agents, broadcasters, advertisers and also players. Basketball is probably the league where players have the greatest influence. Star players are hyper-followed on social networks. Many of them are excellent businessmen. […] We met players, some active, some retired. Nobody had anything bad to say about Montreal, but we felt that there might be other more attractive places right now. That is the truth. […] We have to do a better job with all this wildlife around professional sports so that Montreal becomes as important as Seattle in the eyes of the major leagues. We must continue to develop our networks.

How is Montreal presented to this “fauna”?

Michael Fortier : The question of quality of life comes up all the time. Some players have mentioned the possibility of playing in Mexico, where security is more complicated. Here, this is not the case. It’s a very safe city, a multicultural city where the players are comfortable, where they can feel at home. There is obviously the question of language, but in Montreal, people can have a conversation in English. Our city is known for its joie de vivre, its festivals, its restaurants, its security… We have never felt people were resistant. But the city is still unknown.

Michel Leblanc : Our economy, in Quebec and Montreal, is on a very strong trajectory. If we had thought, 15 years ago, that we would succeed in approaching planetary fortunes with the name Montreal, we would not have been credible. We entered the chat rooms. Before, this would not have happened. […] Our job is to alert the rest of the universe that Montreal has changed.

Note: interviews were conducted individually. Some answers have been lightly edited to make it easier to read.