I've been a die-hard fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs for as long as I can remember. I'm not old enough to remember the last time the carried Lord Stanley's beer mug down the streets of Toronto. Yes, that means I'm younger than 48 years. Kind of sad, isn't it?
It's no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) are only in the business of making money. But then again, that's Business 101, isn't it? After all, the company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, the Toronto FC and the Toronto Marlies are valued at over $1 BILLION!
A bit of information about MLSE:
So yes, MLSE can make money, but, as Wikipedia explains, they can't win atFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in three of the six major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, it is the largest sports and entertainment company in Canada, and one of the largest in North America.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. 
A bird's-eye-view of MLSE headquarters in the tower next to the Air Canada Centre from the CN TowerMaple Leaf Gardens Ltd. (until 1998) Private Industry Professional sports, property management Founded Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1931) Founder Conn Smythe Headquarters Air Canada Centre, 50 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Coordinates 43.6440°N 79.3788°WCoordinates: 43.6440°N 79.3788°W Toronto Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman
Tim Leiweke, President and CEO (until 30 June 2015 at the latest)Products Professional sports teams, sports venues, sports channels, commercial real estate Total equity $1.66 billion CAD (2011)[1] Owner Rogers Communications (37.5%)
BCE (37.5%)
BCE Inc. (28%)
BCE Master Trust Fund (9.5%)
Kilmer Sports (25%)Subsidiaries Website www .mlse .com
The primary holdings of the company are its major sports franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association and Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, as well as the minor league Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and Toronto FC II of the USL PRO. In addition, it owns the Air Canada Centre, the home arena of the Maple Leafs and Raptors. MLSE also manages or has invested in several other sports facilities including BMO Field, home of Toronto FC, Ricoh Coliseum, home of the Marlies, MasterCard Centre, the practice facility of the Maple Leafs and Marlies, KIA Training Ground, practice facility for Toronto FC and Toronto FC II and home of the TFC Academy, and Lamport Stadium.
MLSE was founded by Conn Smythe in 1931 as Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL) to act as a holding company for the Maple Leafs and their planned new arena Maple Leaf Gardens, from which the company got its name. Smythe transferred his ownership of the Leafs to the company in exchange for shares in MLGL, and sold shares in the holding company to the public to help fund construction of the arena. While initially primarily a hockey company, with ownership stakes in a number of minor and junior hockey clubs including the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association, the company later branched out to own the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League from the late 1970s to late 1980s, before merging with the Raptors, who were constructing the Air Canada Centre at the time, and adopting their current name in 1998. Most recently the company launched Toronto FC in 2007.
Over most of its 80 plus years of existence MLSE was a public company. Following the death of majority owner Harold Ballard in 1990, Steve Stavro led a controversial bid to buy the company and take it private. Most recently, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan sold their 79.53% share of the company for $1.32 billion to a joint venture between Rogers Communications and Bell Canada, two of Canada's largest media companies, giving the company an equity value of $1.66 billion and an enterprise value of $2 billion. (All figures are in Canadian dollars (CAD) unless otherwise specified.) Although the company has proven to be very profitable, they have had much less success at producing winning teams. Of the three major franchises they currently own (Maple Leafs, Raptors and Toronto FC), only the Maple Leafs have ever won a championship, but not since their 1967 Stanley Cup.[2] The only other major championship the company has won was the 74th Grey Cup in 1986 by the Tiger-Cats.
With the billions of dollars they make, they can't even buy a winning team. Which makes it safe to say, that no one who makes decisions about their sports teams know very little, or nothing at all about said sports. So why even bother to pretend to know what you're doing?
MLSE recently fired the head coach of the Maple Leafs, Randy Carlyle. Why? Who really knows. The problem clearly wasn't with the coaching, as the Leafs have lost 13 of their last 14 games, and are on route to get a fantastic draft pick this spring.
That's just great. I suppose now they're in a 'rebuilding phase'? How long does rebuilding take? They've been rebuilding since the Ballard Years, haven't they?
In my opinion, that's just a bunch of spin, to get hardcore fans like you and I to keep buying their overpriced tickets and merchandise, in hopes of having a winning team in the near future. I'm sure we can all hold our breath, 'eh? After all, not all games can end like a Game 7 in Boston?
After all, it doesn't matter if people show up to the home games or not. every single seat in the Air Canada Centre is already bought and paid for by the idiotic Season's Ticket holders.
In my opinion, we the fans deserve better. We deserve a winning team at least once every few generations, don't you think? I call that we ALL stop attending the home games of the Toronto Maple Leafs, The Raptors and The TFC. Why? To demand change. The share holders on MLSE are getting rich(er) on selling us a shitty product. Stop buying the product, and they'll be forced to repair it. STop buying their overpriced merchandise. Stop watching the games on TV. Stop listening to the games on the radio.
You're spending your hard earned money on a promise. Well, we've been waiting 47 years for that promise to come true. I think it's time we stop buying their snake oil, and demand change!
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