The price? $160,000. Smythe put $10,000 of his own money. He would soon rename the team the Maple Leafs, build Maple Leaf Gardens in the height of the Great Depression and build some of hockey's greatest championship teams. He became the franchise's majority owner after World War II.
Oh, and along the way he built one of Canada's greatest financial empires.
I could not help but wonder what Conn Smythe's reaction would be today if he knew someone was offering to purchase the empire he started for as much as $1.3 BILLION dollars!
It should be no surprise that Rogers, the communication giant that already owns the Toronto Blue Jays and all sports tv network SportsNet, would be interested in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. By acquiring the Leafs, the NBA Raptors, MLS' Toronto FC, AHL team Toronto Marlies, the Air Canada Center and several television channels, Rogers would become an absolute content powerhouse in the new world of media and the internet, cell phones and iPods.
"Content is king" has always been my slogan here at GreatestHockeyLegends.com, and you bet every one of Rogers' $1.3 billion that they believe that too. That may sound like a ridiculous amount of money, but they are happy to invest it. The cost of letting rival BCE (Bell) purchase MLSE would be far greater.
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