Saskatchewan Roughriders Financial Report Numbers 2012

In the previous post I was pondering over the Ticats merchandise and how it sells relative to other CFL and Canadian pro sports teams. Saskatchewan has merchandise sales that are third overall in Canada behind the Leafs and Canadiens. However interestingly the Riders are a public owned team and make public their annual report.

This Regina Leader-Post article has the highlights of the report for 2012. Gross revenues were $34.4 million versus $32.2 million in expenses. These expenses would be a lot higher than any other CFL team and are unique to Saskatchewan.

Gate receipts were $13.1 million which again would be way higher than any other team, although Edmonton might not be far behind.

Football expenses were $10.9 million which is a useful number as it would be similar for other CFL teams. This would include the $4.4 million salary cap, coaches salaries, plus one would assume equipment expenses, travel, scouting and the other costs associated with running a CFL team.

Merchandise sales were over $7 million which I would assume would lead the CFL by a wide margin (I seem to recall something about the Ticats recently selling over $1 million in merchandise in a year (third best in the CFL)) and thus it is likely the Riders outsell all other CFL teams combined). I'm not sure if this is the total sales or the profit on the sale of the items.

Sponsorship was $5.2 million. I've heard that Montreal has high sponsorship revenues but I'm not sure how comparable these would be to the Riders. I've never heard a Ticat number, but obviously it would be significantly less.

Concessions sales were $3.8 million. Again I'm not sure if this is total sales or profits. All concessions have a pretty massive markup (i.e. beer). 

Riders at Ticats Preview

The CFL season opener takes place in Hamilton tonight and a Ticat team with some differences takes the field tonight at Ivor Wynne for the last season before demolition.

Looking at the offensive line, the Ticats stick with import strategy with the returning Simmons at left and new comer Dile at right. Dyakowski (Canadian genius) is back at right guard, with UBC product Husband at right guard. O'Neill starts at centre. Hage is listed as backup, but I don't know if he will even dress after a long recovery from last season's knee injury.

Reigning rookie of the year Williams and the finally here non-import Giguere start at wideouts, with second year Grant and non-import signing Fantuz at the slots. Stala is a backup although I'm not sure if he will come on with five receiver sets or six. Brown is back as the non-import fullback, although I'm also not sure how many four receiver sets the Cats will run, but I'm sure he will be in for short yardage.

Burris starts (duh), with Porter backing up and no doubt has the sneak job. Cobourne is back as the running back.

The defensive line is a work in progress and all import. Boudreaux and NFL third round pick Crable are the ends, with the returning McElveen and Rose in the middle.

The linebacking corps differs from last year with Johnson and Williams back and non-import and former Argo Eiben. Knowlton is listed as a backup.

Changes from last year on the corner. Rookie Windsor (obviously a non-import) product Bucknor is on one side and the recently acquired former Cat Tisdale on the other. Bucknor wasn't even drafted as far as I can tell, being signed as a free agent. This is unusual and hopefully he won't be burned too badly.

Imports Smith and Young are back as the halfbacks and import Young is back as the safety.

Congi is the kicker and Australian Bartel is the punter. Hopefully Bartel won't be put in some weird situations.

So five non-import starters on offence and two on defence.

The Riders also go with two import tackles in Fulton and Patrick with an all-Canadian interior.

The Riders have an import wideout and slotback, Harper and Dressler with two Canadians, Bagg and Getzlaff at wideout and slot and non-import fullback Hughes. Durant starts at quarterback with Willy (that's his last name) as backup, with Sheets as running back.

Both starting defensive ends are imports, Hawkins and former Bomber Willis, with import George in the middle with non-import Shologan.

For linebacker, the Riders go with two imports on the outside, Brackenridge and rookie Kromah with 2010 number 1 draft pick Shomari Williams in the middle.

The Riders go with an all import secondary, with Jackson and Graham as the corners, Russ and McKenzie as the halfbacks and Patrick as the safety.

Milo is the kicker and punter.

So that's five non-import starters on offence and two on defence, one more than the minimum. That's usually a good sign.

Alouettes Repeat

I managed to catch Montreal's 21 to 18 victory on the radio. Not a huge fan of football on the radio as I find I end up getting distracted between plays, especially if the Cats aren't playing. I'm wondering if I had a Telus phone and Wifi if I would have been able to watch it on my phone here in Chile.

Not really a lot to say about the game, the Alouettes were better in the second half. The Alouettes repeated as champions to me proves one truism, to win Grey Cups try to be decent every year. That sounds obvious, but for the other three North American leagues with 30 plus teams you're better to shoot for mediocrity one year and greatness another if you're trying to maximize the number of championships. In the CFL, just keep getting in there, the probabilities are bound to work out sooner or later.

Calvillo's post game announcement of a thyroid condition is a bit strange, but it does sound like he's coming back unless it is really bad. I'm betting on Cahoon to retire as his play dropped off considerably this year. He had 703 yards receiving this year compared to 1031 in 2009. That means the Als have to find a new Canadian receiver, although Cahoon probably receives a decent salary so some cap space is opened up.

One still has to favour Montreal to win the East next year, although the Cats will probably be closer. The Argos still have a quarterback situation to deal with. Winnipeg, well good luck with Buck Pierce.

Grey Cup Prediction, Montreal versus Saskatchewan

Due to being in Chile the best I can hope for is listening to the game over a bad internet connection. The latest line I've seen is 3.5 points in favour of Montreal which came down over the week. I would favour Montreal as well. Generally when they've had to play well they did, including last week's dismantling over the Argos. The Riders are a lot more consistent than the Argos and have an offensive attack that can challenge the Alouettes. I do think it will be close.

Alouettes 29, Saskatchewan 27

Tillman Pleads Guilty to Babysitter Sexual Assault

After what seems like forever, Eric Tillman has apparently plead guilty to sexual assault in an incident involving a babysitter. According to this article in the National Post, Tillman claimed to be under the effect of two different medications. The act as described in the article:

'Crown prosecutor Bill Burge said Tillman pulled "the rear end of the complainant into himself" by putting his fingers in the belt loops on her hips.

"While in that position, there was physical contact that was clearly of a sexual nature," Burge told Judge Murray Hinds, in describing the details of the offence at Regina Provincial Court on Monday morning.'

No word if one of the medications was Viagra or on the future of Tillman's job.

CFL Previews, Week 7, Part 2

Montreal at Winnipeg,
Obviously one has to go with Montreal on this one. Last I checked, the Alouettes are favoured by 8 on the road, which seems a bit generous to Winnipeg considering some of the lines over ten that have been given out by Vegas this year. Winnipeg is certainly better under Michael Bishop than Stefan LeFors, however they are no match for Montreal`s efficiency. Not a lot really needs to be said.
Montreal 30, Winnipeg 21

Hamilton at Saskatchewan,
Somewhat surprisingly Saskatchewan is favoured by six at home. Considering that they have lost three of the past four games, that strikes me as a bit unusual. Conversely the Cats have won three of the past four games. Obviously the odds makers consider the home record over the years of the Riders to be incredibly important.

Hamilton has had another week of practice with Arland Bruce, plus the return of Otis Floyd and Darrell Adams means the Ticats really have no major injury problems to speak of. Saskatchewan`s best Canadian receiver Andy Fantuz is apparently still out with a hamstring, although Getzlaf is a worthy replacement and defensive tackle Scott Schultz retired mid-season. Probably the main reason for the Cats still not getting a lot of respect is that the offense is still prone to stretches of two and outs. The Cats are close to being a dominating team, but still need to take a few steps and learn to go for the jugular. I`ll take the Cats in a close one.
Hamilton 33, Saskatchewan 29

Riders versus Argos

OK the Argos were looking good for the first half, but now they are totally sucking with a fumble around the 3:00 remaining mark near their own end zone. Festival of roughing penalties for the Argos as well.

Saskatchewan at Toronto, Half Assed Preview

Saskatchewan and Toronto is a battle of undefeated teams. Toronto's victory over Hamilton is looking better after Hamilton's victory over BC. The Riders win over Calgary is not looking so hot after Winnipeg manhandled Calgary.

A lot will depend on how the Rider front seven handles Kerry Joseph, especially if Joseph decides to run. Interestingly last week Joseph barely ran at all, although he didn't really need to as the running game was going with Jamal Robertson gaining 134 yards on the ground. The Argo offensive line anchored by former Lion Rob Murphy is looking way better than last year. They still have Jonta Woodard, a Ticat reject as their other tackle, so I'm not totally sold on the line yet. If Joseph does gets time, he is a far better QB. The Rider defence did have a festival of sacks against BC last week, so I'm curious to see how things match up.

For Saskatchewan on offense, QB Darian Durant will have to have to hook up repeatedly with receiver Weston Dressler to have a hope of winning. Toronto's defence looks decent this year, with a good front four anchored by Reginald Flemons and non-import Adriano Belli, former Cat and last week's top Canadian, with two sacks against Hamilton last week.

Argo receiver Arland Bruce is supposedly back from his bout of hemorrhoids which greatly benefits the Argos.

Should be an interesting game.

Week 1 Predictions: Part 2

Winnipeg at Edmonton
Edmonton is not one of my favourites this year (or any year as I think that Rickey Ray is overrated), but I have to think they'll stomp Winnipeg at home. Maybe Stefan Lefors can do something as the Winnipeg QB, although I doubt it. If Winnipeg ends up winning, the Cats will have the basement of the league all to their lonesome (unless the Riders suck just as hard, which is possible). It will be interesting to see what Lumsden does tonight.
Edmonton 35, Winnipeg 19

BC at Saskatchewan

Sorry Saskatchewan, apart from injuring QBs Pierce and Jackson in the first quarter (which is possible) there's no chance. BC lost their best defensive end and their best running back, Stefan Logan, however Wally Buono always seems to find a way to reload.
BC 37, Saskatchewan 29

Saskatchewan Roughriders Profitable Again

There's an article here going over the Roughriders financials from last year. They made a profit exceeding $1.6 million this year, which was similar to the previous year. Interesting that their gross revenues were up 23.9% to $28.2 million. That's a lot for a CFL club (especially considering the salary cap is only in the $4 million range). Ticket revenues were $8.3 million, which is impressive, but probably more impressive is the $6.5 million in merchandise sales. That's close to $6.50 for every Saskatchewan citizen, so I guess not having been there for a while, that Saskatchewan is a sea of green.

Expenses were also up. "Overall expenses were $26.4 million. The 26.7-per-cent increase in expenses was attributed to infrastructure improvements and initial planning for the team's 100th-anniversary celebration in 2010." How much are they spending on their anniversary celebration? Seems like they may be trying to understate their profits somewhat.

Saskatchewan Roughrider Attendance Correction

My apologies for the figures in the last post. The Saskatchewan Roughrider totals were not correct as I forgot the capacity got boosted for the August 31 game against Winnipeg from 28,800. Strangely, for the Winnipeg game the attendance is listed as 30,985, whereas for the last three games it is 30,945. Here's the amended list:

Edmonton 37383
BC 34083
Calgary 32617
Saskatchewan 29758
Toronto 29189
Winnipeg 27151
Hamilton 20784
Montreal 20202

This you will note, boost Saskatchewan over Toronto. I'm still working on the best road draw calculations, but I should be able to post them for Friday.

Salary Cap and the Nine Game Injury List

Thinking about the Riders going over the cap yesterday, I was wondering about the nine game injury list. If a player is put on the nine game injury list, his salary while on the list does not count against the cap. How does the nine game list work at the end of the season? Say the Cats, with three games left last year, they know they won't make the playoffs. Could they put a bunch of their more expensive players on the nine game list for the last three games to get under the cap if they were over? If putting players on the list would put them under the cap, could the team renegotiate a contract and pay a player a bonus during the last three games to get back to the cap and then pay him less the following year, thus potentially leaving more cap room for the following year? Seems to me, if you're sucking towards the end and know the team will miss the playoffs, there's some manipulating that could be done to leave you better off next year.

I do remember last year where the Cats could have released Casey Printers before the half way mark of the season (veteran players have their contracts guaranteed after nine games), however he ended up "injured" during that crucial period so they couldn't have released him anyways, Certainly in hindsight it would have been better if he had been released.

Saskatchewan Violates Salary Cap, the Sequel

So yet again, the Roughriders have violated the CFL's salary management system, by $76,552. Fortunately that is below the $100,000 violation that loses draft picks. Saskatchewan claims injuries as they did, if I recall correctly, last year. Admittedly on a percentage basis, this is pretty small potatoes. I do wonder though, if you're an owner that wants to win, why not just violate the cap by $99,999 every year. Sure you would have to shell out an extra $99,999, but you would lose no draft picks. However the $99,999 probably isn't enough to make a winning team out of a losing team. Certainly I think the Cats wouldn't have done much better last year with an extra $99,999 spent.

Amusingly, Eric Tillman, the archtect of the Riders can't comment on this issue due to certain allegations that are still pending before the courts. I once met Eric's sister in an elevator in the Rio in Las Vegas. Same hick accent as Eric, but no crazy red hair.