page_title: Toronto Argonauts
section_title: Ownership history
hierarchical_section_title: Toronto Argonauts / Ownership and management / Ownership history
caption_attribution_description: English: David Braley is the present co-owner of both the Toronto Argonauts CFL franchise, which he purchased in February 2010, and the BC Lions CFL Football club which he acquired in January 1997. He is also the owner of Orlick Industries Limited, a successful auto-parts manufacturing company based in the city of Hamilton, Ontario. On May 20, 2010, Braley was appointed to the Canadian senate by the Canadian government for a 5 year term where he will sit as a Conservative. He presently lives in the city of Burlington in the province of Ontario. Braley was originally born in the city of Montreal, Quebec, but was raised in Hamilton, Ontario and attended McMaster University there. David Braley is pictured here at the 7th Annual Orange Helmet Awards Dinner celebrating grassroots football in the province of British Columbia, Canada, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in April 2010. This photo was taken by Raj Taneja of the Urban Mixer blog site.
context_page_description: The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the team was founded in 1873, and is the oldest existing professional sports team in North America still using its original name, and they are the oldest-surviving team in both the modern-day CFL and East Division. The team's origins date back to a modified version of rugby football that emerged in North America in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Argonauts played their home games at Rogers Centre from 1989 until 2016 when the team moved to BMO Field, the fifth stadium site to host the team.
  The Argonauts have won the Grey Cup a record 17 times and have appeared in the final 23 times. Most recently they defeated the Calgary Stampeders 27–24 in the 105th Grey Cup in 2017. The Argonauts hold the best winning percentage in the championship game and have the longest active winning streak in games in which they have appeared, at six. The Argonauts have faced every current western CFL team at least once in the Grey Cup, while their most celebrated divisional rivalry has been with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
context_section_description: For more than eight decades, the Toronto Argonauts Football Club was the sole property of its namesake rowing club. By the 1950s, the team's complex management structure made the arrangement increasingly awkward. Facing overdraft and with wealthy suitors knocking, the Argonaut rowers finally sold the team to a consortium led by John Bassett, Eric Cradock, and Charlie Burns in 1957. Each held about 20% share in the company, with the balance made up by small investors who had some affinity with the club; the initial agreement called for a long-term debenture of $400,000 to be set up that would sustain the rowing club in the absence of its football income. Bassett was the operating head of the franchise and is often given sole credit for the initial purchase of the Argos, but Cradock was also instrumental in spearheading the drive. He would sell his share to Len Lumbers just two years into his tenure in part because of Bassett's controlling nature. Bassett arranged a complete buyout of the other shareholders for $2.31 million in 1971 through his holdings in Baton Broadcasting.
  The Bassett years of the late-50s to early-70s were marked by mediocrity on the field but consistent success at the turnstiles. An issue that has become a perennial concern in the city also emerged at this time: the possibility of a National Football League team in Toronto. Various machinations were entertained by Bassett including moving the Argos to the NFL, bringing an American expansion team to the city (e.g. the Toronto Northmen of the WFL), or expanding the CFL itself in the opposite direction. Other team owners steadfastly opposed Bassett's moves and almost rescinded his franchise in 1974; angered, he sold the team for $3.3 million to hotel magnate William R. Hodgson in the same year.
  Hodgsen sold to Carling O'Keefe in 1979, who had been minority owners since 1976. The brewing company's total investment in the team was $5.8 million. At the time it was rapidly ramping up its sports sponsorship (it also owned the Quebec Nordiques before they moved from the World Hockey Association to the NHL) and would become a huge benefactor to the CFL itself, inking television rights deals that would reach $11 million annually by 1984. Reports at the time suggest the league became spoiled by the partnership and that when the money dried up in 1987, the transition was difficult. For the Argos, the Carling O'Keefe years were marked by their first modern-era Grey Cup in 1983.
  The year's following the Carling O'Keefe era were marked by increasingly short ownership stints. Canadian businessman Harry Ornest bought the team off Carling O'Keefe for $5 million at the end of 1988 and then sold to the trio of Bruce McNall (60%), John Candy (20%), and Wayne Gretzky (20%) for the same amount in 1991. Of the three, Candy is best remembered for his emotional investment in the team and a team player award continues in his honour. Given McNall's indictment and Candy's early death, the era was tumultuous and the last in which the club regularly made front-page headlines. The now money-losing team was sold to the Labatt Brewing Company through its TSN unit in 1994 for $4.5 million. At the time, Labatt also owned the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1995, Labatt was acquired by Interbrew; The Interbrew years saw two championships but also the worst Argo attendance of the modern era. Interbrew soon lost interest in sports ownership and the team was sold again at the end of 1999 to New York businessman Sherwood Schwarz.
  After the debacles of the Schwarz era and brief control of the team by the CFL (see above) the Argos were rescued by David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski in 2004. There was optimism surrounding the duo's arrival and attendance figures improved in their six years heading the organization. It was also appreciated that the two were Torontonians after a quarter-century of foreign and/or corporate ownership. But by 2010 losses were great enough that the team was again put on the block and eventually sold to David Braley. There was some controversy surrounding Braley's takeover. He w
caption: David Braley owned the club from 2010 to 2015
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