Invisible Edward Rogers now powerful sporting man in Canada

Article content

There is an arrogance and an autocratic way in which Rogers Communications has operated the Toronto Blue Jays.

Article content

It began with the remarkable late Ted Rogers, who may have written the book on public arrogance, and since has translated it to his son Edward, the normally Invisible Man, who is not nearly so accomplished.

Now, suddenly, the Invisible Man is the most important sporting figure in this city — and possibly the country.

And there is reason to worry about that.

He and his company own just about everything now. The Maple Leafs. The Raptors. The Jays. The Argos, for the time being. Toronto FC. Scotiabank Arena. You name it, Ed Rogers owns it.

Rogers, the company, has become the largest owner of sporting bulk in North American — with teams in the NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, CFL, AHL and just about every other every initial you can come up with.

Article content

Article content

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Rogers will do so standing firmly behind — or hiding behind, depending on the circumstance — Mark Shapiro and Masai Ujiri (whom he tried to get rid of a few summers back) Brendan Shanahan, and — before his recent dismissal — Bill Manning.

And, of course, Keith Pelley, the CEO and overseer of everything that is Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

From a sporting side, Rogers, the owner not the company, knows more about spending than he does about winning. That’s great if you happen to be Auston Matthews, Scottie Barnes or George Springer.

You, the player, will be well-compensated and very comfortable while playing for MLSE teams and the Blue Jays. Comfortable without the great pressure or expectation of having to win anything.

Article content

You will not get human emotion from the Blue Jays ownership. You will not feel passion or believe in it. You will at times feel taken advantage of. And way too often you will de dusted with condescension.

How has that worked out for the highly unpopular Shapiro and the Blue Jays? The current state of the Leafs, the team that will win the Stanley Cup every ‘next year,’ is almost parade-like and worthy of celebration when compared to what Shapiro’s Jays have accumulated over time.

What does Rogers, the man, think of that? Who knows. He has never said. He never has done an interview that hasn’t been staged. He doesn’t turn down requests to talk because he doesn’t even acknowledge them.

His games are on Rogers television. Broadcast by Rogers stations. Covered by Rogers reporters. The all-sports radio station, owned by Rogers, is almost all baseball, all the time. Everything operates as though it is in house.

Article content

The company is paying $4.7 billion now to purchase 37.5% of the private shares in MLSE — which ends the 12-year partnership and stalemate between competitors and enemies, Bell and Rogers, and will change the landscape of Toronto’s sporting franchises exponentially.

The deal is a surprise only because, for years, it has been believed that Bell wouldn’t sell to Rogers and vice-versa because neither company would give the other the upper hand on such valuable sporting properties.

But business and circumstances changed the equation and Bell decided it needed to be out of MLSE, needed the $4.7 billion in other places in its business.

Ask any player on the Leafs or the Raptors about who owns the team and they’ll tell you, without hesitation, Larry Tanenbaum.

Article content

They’ll say that not really knowing that Tanenbaum’s stake in the company has been reduced to 20%. Before Wednesday’s announcement, Bell and Rogers combined for 75% ownership of MLSE.

Now it’s Rogers with a stranglehold on the company and, by extension, the fanbase. And here is Bell, taking the money and running because it needs the money to repair a company that has to be more responsive to shareholders and its changing future.

Tanenbaum, at times, was almost the perfect middle man to keep Rogers and Bell at peace. By doing so, he deftly positioned himself as the chairman of the company and the de facto owner of the Leafs and Raptors.

In that time, he has quietly feuded with Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri and possibly with Bell, as well. Now, with Rogers in a clear ownership majority, Tanenbaum likely will be deemed irrelevant when the company eventually restructures itself.

Article content

All of this — the buying-out of Bell, the eventual pushing/buying-out of Tanenbaum, the Rogers family fighting to position itself over who owns what and when — feels like another season of Succession come to life, with just a different television family involved. This story, however, is non-fiction.

Ed Rogers isn’t shy about spending money. That much we know about him.

He paid giant money to renovate the Rogers Centre and the Blue Jays spring training facility. He sits by rather silently as a top-10 payroll team in baseball ends up as a bottom-10 team in the standings when the season ends.

The one person he wanted to take to task, Ujiri, is the only Toronto executive to produce a big-league championship in decades.

The fact that Shapiro and his general manager, Ross Atkins, are still in place tells you all you need to know about Rogers. It likely means Shanahan and Ujiri may have jobs for life.

The teams will be well taken care of by Rogers. The fans not so much.

ssimmons@postmedia.com

twitter.com/simmonssteve

Article content