Who Owns The Argos...?

((HT: GlobeSports/Naylor-Sekeres))

David Braley, owner of the B.C. Lions ((pictured thanks GlobeSports file)), secretly put up half of the $2-million franchise fee when David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski purchased the Toronto Argonauts out of bankruptcy in the fall of 2003, and continued to lend money to the CFL club, The Globe and Mail has learned.

His role in brokering the Argos deal occurred without the knowledge of then-CFL commissioner Tom Wright, and the role Braley has since played is unknown to current commissioner Mark Cohon.

The Globe was told Braley has covered half the Toronto club’s annual operating losses. On the flip side, he pocketed half the profits from the 2007 Grey Cup game staged at the Rogers Centre.

When asked yesterday if Braley had an ownership interest in the Argos, Sokolowski vehemently denied it.

“Absolutely not, David Cynamon and myself are the owners,” he said. “There are no formal financial records whatsoever in terms of him being an owner.”

When asked whether there were any financial arrangements between the Argos and Braley, Sokolowski replied: “[Braley] is not an owner. He has never been an owner. It’s a private company. That’s it.”

Said Braley: “I don’t have any ownership interest at all with the Toronto Argonauts and I never have. … There is no paperwork and there’s nothing to be able to prove that.”

Braley said he has made loans occasionally to CFL owners, citing an Ottawa Rough Riders group of the early 1990s, two groups in Hamilton during the 1990s, and former Argos boss Sherwood Schwarz, whose ownership ended in the 2003 bankruptcy.

“From time to time, I help financially and I always get paid back,” Braley said. Asked if owners receiving his financial assistance included Cynamon and Sokolowski, he refused comment.

Though Braley is not registered with the league as a Toronto owner, he has often acted around the Argonauts as someone who would hold an interest in the club.

Braley acknowledged reviewing the Argos’ books at the end of last season, at the invitation of Cynamon and Sokolowski. He sat with their executives and accountants to inspect financial records and make budget suggestions.

“It’s a small league and it’s different and we’ve had some problems [historically] with the Eastern teams,” Braley said.

During the Argonauts’ final home game of 2008, Braley spent at least part of the match standing on the Toronto sideline, a position usually reserved for team executives. Braley said he attended that game as a guest of Cynamon and Sokolowski, and was invited to join them on the sideline.

When the Argonauts were searching for a head coach in the off-season, Braley made calls to people within the league soliciting names of suitable candidates, according to sources.

The Argos offered the job to Lions defensive co-ordinator Mike Benevides before later hiring Bart Andrus as their new head coach. Benevides, who rejected the Toronto job for family reasons after interviewing last December, said he spoke to Braley about the opportunity only once, at a Christmas party.

“[Braley] and Wally [Buono, the Lions’ general manager and coach] were both supportive, but they were arm’s length,” Benevides said. “I think they were very cautious of not trying to lead me one way or the other and let me make my own decision.”

Braley does not consider it unreasonable for one owner in the CFL to hold ownership in another team.

“I don’t have [an ownership in the Argos] but it wouldn’t be unusual,” he said. “The only thing you have to worry about is that football operations are transparent.”

No one interviewed for this story could discern any instance when Braley’s interest in both teams affected decisions pertaining to football.

Cohon declined to comment for this story. A league spokesman said the CFL commissioner is unaware of any sharing of interests in the Argonauts among Braley, Cynamon and Sokolowski, and has been assured by all three that none exists.

The purchase of the Argos involving Cynamon and Sokolowski was put together during the desperate days of the 2003 season, during which both the Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were in bankruptcy.

While Braley headed the search for ownership in Hamilton, Wright took the lead in Toronto and brought Cynamon and Sokolowski together. Braley, acting as a representative for the CFL board of governors, helped broker the deal that brought Cynamon and Sokolowski into the league.

Wright said he had no knowledge of any financial arrangement among Braley, Cynamon and Sokolowski. He said the deal to bring Cynamon and Sokolowski into the CFL was brokered by him acting as commissioner and Braley acting on behalf of the board.

“I can tell you that both David Braley and I were active on both sides of this ownership transaction,” Wright said.

CFL Commish Mark Cohon addressed the matter in a statement along with Cynamon and Sokolowski and Braley.

Hamilton TiCats GM Bob O'Billovich was on the Landry and Stellick Morning Show

Cohon was also a guest of Bob McCown on "Prime Time Sports"

Both, thanks to our friends at the Fan590 in Toronto