Garber and Ecclestone even fight!

The exclusions of the calendar Montreal Grand Prix Formula 1 race and to obtain a concession in the next expansion of the MLS have a very big thing in common: Commissioner Don Garber is the Bernie Ecclestone soccer north America. Joey Saputo think without doubt, but merely to say that he found the commissioner of the MLS "too greedy" with an entry price set at U.S. $ 40M for the 2011 season. "I want to make explanations as clear as possible about the release of our dossier by Commissioner Garber, but at the same time, I must be careful not to cut the bridges," said the chairman of Impact and Stadium Saputo. Caution is required because the group Saputo-Gillett remains interested in following the expansion could take place in 2013. "Commissioner Garber said that Montreal does not disappear and the portrait could try his luck later, Saputo said. We are always interested in what impact playing at the highest level, but as we have said repeatedly, not at any price. " From $ 10M to $ 40M in three years! The greed of the MLS is obvious. Toronto has paid U.S. $ 10M to its entry in 2007. Seattle is paying U.S. $ 20M to join MLS in 2009 and Philadelphia will pay U.S. $ 30M for its entry in 2010. These figures do not place the MLS in the same league as the Formula 1 of Bernie Ecclestone who demanded a guarantee of $ 175M for the next five Grands Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. However, the principle is the same. "We have perhaps made a mistake by offering an entry price of U.S. $ 20 million and a total of $ 45 million if one includes the cost to bring the stadium capacity of 20 000 places, but we were ready to negotiate , Said Joey Saputo. However, there has never been any calls from the MLS after the filing of our project in October. To me it shows a lack of professionalism on the part of Commissioner Garber. " Prudence Update In an economic and financial landscape very uncertain where incomes of the subsidiary marketing for the MLS would be required to significantly reduce its costs and increase, among others, because the players' collective agreement expires at the end of the season 2009, caution is doubly appropriate. "Agreeing to pay the price demanded by the MLS seriously jeopardize the viability of the impact and future of professional soccer in Montreal," said Joey Saputo. "We would be able to pay $ 40M, but our business plan would no longer make sense. It would greatly increase ticket prices and revenues from corporate sponsorships while accumulating losses for four years and reaching break even only in the fifth year. We should then ten years to eliminate the debt ... " If there is a lesson that Joey Saputo has drawn from its fifteen years of involvement in professional soccer with the Impact, is that "we need a realistic business plan and credible to be able to support long-term concession in good financial health. " Message from Saputo and Gillett In developing any scenario imaginable and possible financial assistance to representatives of the Gillett family, who have a tremendous expertise in all operations of a concession professional sports, it was not possible to find a solution that is "Both financially responsible and guaranteeing a long-term stability." Of course, Montreal file was the only one that did not contain any public financial involvement. With levels of government to take charge of the erection of a stage, it is easier for private developers to put $ 40M on the table to acquire a license. "But this is not the path we have chosen," said Joey Saputo. The shelving of the Montreal bid for a concession on the MLS for the 2011 season is not the end of the world. "We will continue to improve as a team and as an organization even if it is outside the scope of the MLS," promised Joey Saputo. Impact may have lost a battle but the war is not over!