 Dick Versace, the Grizzlies' president of basketball operations, stated in the final Vancouver season that the company was losing US $ 40 million per season. These numbers were questioned by Richard Peddie, CEO of the Raptors, as the Grizzlies had a salary cap of US $ 48 million. Retrospectively, Heisley stated that he lost US $ 87 million on owning the Grizzlies, although that included a US $ 30 million relocation fee to the NBA. Versace stated that he felt that the team did not get sufficient support from the business community. Colin Jones, University of Victoria professor in sports economics, stated that it was difficult to attract corporate sponsors as long as the team was losing so many games; the Grizzlies lack of good draft picks lead to the team failing to win, thus losing revenue. He also noted that the team never sought help in the general business community regarding management issues.
