Steve Leal may continue to chase every hare within his reach, but the Acadie-Bathurst Titan seems to have decided that the time has come to move on. Against all expectations, team president Serge Thériault announced Sunday morning that the organization had just hired the firm Ernst & Young to help it in its search for a potential buyer, or even a new shareholder. majority.
Serge Thériault took advantage of the visit of the QMJHL commissioner, Mario Cecchini, to make this announcement in front of nearly a hundred fans who, visibly, seemed relieved to learn that the objective was more than ever to keep the club at the Center K.-C.-Irving Regional. Obviously, the team will stay as long as the crowds increase, new owner or not.
In short, Steve Leal is no longer in the picture, although his dog may not be dead yet.
Thus, Commissioner Cecchini, who says he supports the Titan’s new game plan, is not completely closing the door to the owner of Fix Auto. But we feel, however, that if the latter wishes to return to the picture, he will have to change his approach and also prove that his desire is really to keep the club in Bathurst.
“The league is not arguing with Steve Leal,” he said. There’s always a chance he could be part of the equation. What is certain is that the file is starting from scratch. And since the matter had been dragging on for several years, there are perhaps investors who did not come forward thinking that it was a done deal with Steve Leal.”
Serge Thériault, for his part, confirmed what almost everyone suspected, namely that there has already been an agreement in principle between Leal and the owners.
“The problems began when he announced his intention to build a new amphitheater on the south shore of Montreal. It made it all very difficult,” reveals the president.
But beyond the uncompromising move of the team, despite the fact that the organization had presented its sale project with the view that a real chance would be given to keep the club in Bathurst, which really The turning point was when the QMJHL learned that the colorful businessman was also in the running to acquire the Barrie Colts, in the OHL.
Note that the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), which oversees the country’s three major junior circuits, does not accept two teams being owned by a single person or group.
Very recently, we also learned that Steve Leal was also in the running to acquire the Trois-Rivières Lions and the Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL, as well as the Summerside Western Capitals in the MHL.
When we say that Leal is chasing several hares, that’s what we’re talking about.
A marketing genius
According to Serge Thériault, the priority now is to find a new owner or majority shareholder who will have the energy and financial capacity to continue what was started when the team moved here in 1998, a vision that the new group of ownership retained when he purchased the club from Léo-Guy Morrissette in 2013.
“We would like to find a person or a group who will bring the Titan to another level,” says Mr. Thériault. Ideally, this person would be a marketing genius. For our part, we have done our best since we took office. Today, we are not embarrassed to say that we need to find someone who can do better.”
“We realized that we are not experts in the process of finding potential buyers. We don’t have the necessary contacts. It was therefore logical for us to turn to a firm like Ernst & Young.”
Serge Thériault ends by saying that thanks to this firm, which has offices in Montreal and Edmonton, he says he is confident of seeing a possible buyer come forward fairly quickly.
Mayor Kim Chamberlain was also absent due to a virus, but she was keen to congratulate, via her communications manager, Luc Foulem, the new transparency of the owners, while emphasizing the important place that the Titan occupies with Population.
Mario Cecchini has earned the respect of the Titan
The more the weeks go by, the more Mario Cecchini becomes unanimous in the QMJHL. At the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Serge Thériault and Gordie Dwyer already have deep respect for the new commissioner of the circuit.
“He is a unifier who exudes great presence,” says President Thériault. He has leadership. He knows how to get his messages across.”
“I had the chance to know him last summer when I was part of the committee on the abolition of fighting,” says Dwyer. He is a progressive man who has a vision of what the league should be.”
“His decision to abolish fighting was the right one. The abolition of fights does not make the game any less interesting. The show is also good,” adds the CEO of the Titan.
Asked what had struck him the most since he replaced Gilles Courteau, Mario Cecchini had this great answer.
“The passion of the people. That’s what impressed me the most. Everyone is passionate in this league. And in each team, this passion reaches down to the minor officials who are not paid. Many of them are guys my age. They all have in common that they have a passion for junior hockey,” he replied.
“And another thing that I noticed is that the smaller the city with a team, the bigger that team is in the eyes of the population,” adds Mario Cecchini.
2024-01-14 23:15:35
#Titan #marketing #genius #owner
