Blue Jays not for sale, says Rogers CFO Anthony Staffieri
Major league team’s executives believe stock price doesn't reflect club's value
Executives at Rogers Communications say there's no plan to sell the Toronto Blue Jays.
Questions about the company's plans for Canada's only major league baseball team resurfaced late last year but Rogers executives have consistently said they want to maintain ties with the Jays.
The future of the Jays was raised on the Rogers fourth-quarter conference call.
Chief financial officer Anthony Staffieri said there are no plans to sell the Jays and Rogers management has been consistent on this point.
However, as he has said on previous occasions, Staffieri said that Rogers management would like to find a way for the value of the Blue Jays team to be reflected in the parent company's stock price.
Staffieri says he wouldn't say much more on the topic because anything that Rogers management says would fuel more speculation.
Talk about a possible sale of the Blue Jays, which surfaces from time to time, kicked into high gear last month after Staffieri made similar comments at an investor conference.
In December, American business magazine Forbes reported the team has annual revenues of $278 million US ($358 million Cdn). It values the franchise at $1.3 billion US ($1.68 billion Cdn).
The Blue Jays may have finished second last in the American League East standings, but they had the third best attendance of any team in Major League Baseball.
Rogers CEO Joe Natale told analysts Thursday that sports broadcasting through Sportsnet, rights to National Hockey League games and opportunities with the Jays are strategically important to Rogers.