New WPG Stadium

David Asper wants to build a new stadium in Winnipeg and get control of the team in return. For most Winnipegers, this is an old story. There's a new plan though, check out TSN for info.

I have major issues with this plan. Not only will it pull the Bombers away from being a publicly owned team (which I love) but I think it's a major conflict of interest because David Asper owns CANWEST GLOBAL! Who has bomber rights in Winnipeg right now? That would be Corus and CJOB. How long will that last with a competing media company OWNING THE TEAM? Probably not long.

I like David Asper. I think he does great things for Winnipeg and most times, I really like the way he conducts business, but I think this whole 'buying the bombers' thing is a horrible idea. How long until CanWest reporters get the first scoop on stories? How long until that inner connection starts to show? And that's not fair for the rest of the people covering the team. It's also not fair to the rest of the league, who has a major contract with TSN/CTV Globemedia.

This is different from a situation like SkyDome becoming Roger's center. To the best of my knowledge, Roger's does not own the Argos (although I could be wrong), and even if they did, it wouldn't make David Asper owning the Bombers right.

That's just my opinion.

If David really wants to build a new stadium, I think he should go for it. He should pay for it, and then he should rent it out to people like the Bombers just like Winnipeg Enterprises does right now with Winnipeg Stadium. The team should stay publicly owned, but if that's not possible, at the very least, it should be bought by a team of investors or at least someone who isn't going to change/monopolize the media landscape in Winnipeg by owning the team. Where's Mark Chipman? Hello, Sam Katz (although this one might not be that much better)? Burton Cummings? Randy Bachman? ANYONE?