THUNDER BAY -- The Thunder Bay Border Cats are facing a Friday deadline to find new investors in order to keep the team afloat.
A spokesman for a group of investors trying to take over the team from its American owners, but are still short the number needed to make it work.
“It’s a small financial investment and we hope to have at least 25 total investors so the club can operate this coming season and for years to come,” said group spokesperson Bryan Graham in a post to Facebook Sunday night.
“We believe with the right amount of dollars behind the operation the Border Cats can bring a better fan experience at Port Arthur Stadium including premier seating, enhanced party decks for group outings, a children’s activity zone and a larger menu of concession items. We also believe having more local business people involved in the ownership group will raise not only season ticket sales, but corporate sponsorship's as well,”
Graham added the team already has feelers out to a potential new manager and the plan is to emphasize bringing in more Canadian talent playing college ball in the United States.
But the deadline is looming, Graham said.
“We’ve pretty much been at this now since the season ended in mid-August and there is a solid nucleus of investors that have jumped on board. We have a deadline coming up this Friday as there are league meetings quickly approaching the second week of October,” Graham said.
“When you look at the numbers, this franchise is not far off from being very successful with increased attendance and more support from the business community. We hope our dream to keep the Border Cats alive will be a successful one.”
The team already lost its general manager this off-season, when Dan Grant resigned to take a private-sector job. The ownership group, led by Kyle Smith bought the team from former owner Brad Jorgenson in February 2016. According to reports, the league dissolved Smith's ownership group.
For more information on ownership opportunities, contact Bryan Graham at bgraham11@shaw.ca or David Valente at dtvalente@yahoo.com.
