Convener:
Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. Welcome to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats season preview conference call. I would now like to turn everything over to Mr. Lucas Barrett.
Lucas Barrett:
Hello everybody, today we continue our season preview conference call series. Today we have the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. We are happy to be joined by CEO Scott Mitchell as well as Vice-President of Football Operations and Head Coach, Kent Austin. Today, both Scott and Kent will make opening statements and following opening statements we will have a Q/A session.
Scott Mitchell:
Thanks very much. Scott Mitchell here. I just wanted to start off by sending all of our best thoughts and best wishes out to everyone in Fort McMurray. From a distance, it certainly looks an incredible tragedy that’s going on out in Northern Alberta. All of our thoughts and wishes are with all of the great people that are out there that have been great hosts for several CFL properties. I know there are a lot of great football fans up there and all of us, joined by the Eskimos, will do what we can to support the great people of Fort McMurray.
On that note, just wanted to talk about the Ticats business scenario and environment before Kent talks about the football side. Obviously, we’ve had goals in Hamilton to be a very successful and sustainable organization. I think clearly we’re thrilled to be able to say we’ve kind of surpassed that sustainability and are really reveling in the opportunity to be a successful and viable franchise. That success has enabled us to have a lot of big plans and big aspirations to be the leading sports and entertainment company in Southwestern Ontario, and in the Golden Horseshoe. We have really benefitted from the continual growth and opportunities in Hamilton and have been very fortunate to work closely with a lot of our great partners here. For us, success is determined by our fans’ and our partners’ great experience. We’ve said it before but we want our experience at Tim Horton’s Field to be the best live sports experience in North America and I think clearly we’ve done a great job of that. All the ambitious plans and all of the success we’ve had is derived from that Ticats success and I wanted to very specifically talk about the incredible team we have. I’ll talk about football operations for a little bit, sooner than later, but [we have] a terrific business operations team headed up by Matt Afinec. Obviously, we have a tremendous owner in Bob Young who gives us every possible tool to be successful. But we really have an unbelievable business operations group that does a terrific job day-to-day. Matt is surrounded by a tremendously talented group of people who we think are as good as exists in North American sports and we’re very proud of that group. Matt runs our business day-to-day and just does a tremendous job. He’s one of the great young executives in North America and I know he’s thrilled with the group he has. We’ve had a great amount of stability in our business operations group, which I think speaks very highly of the people we have and the success we’ve had.
Moving forward, we’re going to continue to invest in the fan experience. Like we talked about, the need for that fan experience to be the best in North America. This year we’ll put another million dollars plus back into Tim Horton’s Field. We will invest heavily in our Ticats All-Access program, which is a great digital engagement tool for our fans to access and consume great content while benefiting through a great point system to earn prizes and opportunities to engage with the Tiger-Cats. This year we’ll also launch our in-stadium food app through Stadium Digital which is very exciting for us. There’ll be a big launch of the Tiger-Cats retail store, which is on the southeast corner of Tim Horton’s Field. It’s been two years in the making for us, and it will be a phenomenal, first-class store. It will be a Bellwether property for our fans to be able to come in and enjoy a phenomenal retail experience. We’re also building an incredible Coor’s Banquet Bar on the northeast corner. Again, [there will be] more opportunities for our fans to enjoy the great, social atmosphere at Tim Horton’s Field. This really turned into an incredible place for fans to talk to friends and family, enjoy the game and also be very social at Tim Horton’s Field. We’ve got a great alumni clubhouse coming this year. I don’t think there’s a question this will be the best alumni clubhouse in the CFL. Big shout out to our alumni who’ve really done a great job in getting behind it and I know everybody in the organization talks about wanting to have the best relationship with the best alumni group in the Canadian Football League, so we’re thrilled with the response to that. We’ll be launching a beautiful alumni clubhouse for 2016. Obviously, we’re incredibly excited as well about the Canadian Football Hall of Fame that will be coming to Tim Horton’s Field. It will be a great thing for everybody who’s a big football fan in the country. We’ll take that very seriously and make everybody proud of what that’s all about and all the great Hall of Famers in our league.
I think when we talk about the fan experience and partner experience, the barometer is clearly the numbers and the participation rates we have from our partners and our fans. We’ve sold out every game at Tim Horton’s Field. I think it’s 17 now, and I think clearly we fully expect another sold out season this year. I think anytime you’re being forced to have a lot of scrutiny on limiting the amount of season seats you have, that’s a great story for us. We have to cap them at some point in time because we need to keep casual fans, groups and some community partners inside the stadium. That’s a great conversation for us to be having internally, we’ve sold out all of our corporate inventory for the third year straight. Matt Afinec and his group are doing a great job of trying to find creative ways to bring in new partners, but all of our traditional inventory has been sold out. We have a waiting list for all of our premium products, which is terrific for us as that was a question a lot of people had in Hamilton about how much appetite there would be for those products. It’s been a pretty insatiable appetite. All that gets us unbelievably excited for the 2016 season. We have a great schedule, we worked very hard with the league and all of our partners. I think it’s a great schedule, there’s a lot of parity in the league this year. Obviously, we’re excited about our opening night on July 1, and really excited about the WeatherTech Football Day in Hamilton that was announced yesterday afternoon. We are extremely thrilled with the prospects in Hamilton, we feel like we’ve built a very valuable entity. We’re thrilled for Bob Young, who’s invested a tremendous amount of money and a lot of blood, sweat and tears in Hamilton, and we feel like it’s a great time to be a Hamilton Tiger-Cats employee and a fan of the organization. I again want to stress the incredible team we have on the business staff, who from top to bottom do a great job, they’re very engaged and very similar to the football staff. I’ll turn it over to Coach Austin in a second here, but obviously, we’re very thrilled with the football operations team and to have the group of people that we do on the personnel side with Kent [Austin], Eric Tillman, Drew Allemang, Shawn Burke. Everybody on that side does a tremendous job. We feel that it’s as good as there is in the business, and then obviously we have a tremendous coaching staff with some great people who’ve been with us for four years now, like Jeff Reinebold and Orlondo Steinauer. We’re obviously very excited about the season, and with that, I’ll turn it over to Coach Austin for a brief statement before we open it up for questions.
Kent Austin:
Hi, thanks for everybody being here, this is Coach Austin. I just want to reiterate some of the things that Scott has already mentioned. Specifically on the football operations side, I have the privilege, blessing, and benefit of working with a [group of] very smart, hard-working individuals that are very talented. As you know, there were three promotions this off-season, with Eric, Shawn, and Drew. All commensurate with their abilities, what they’ve proven with respect to their talent, and also it fits with where we’re going from a vision standpoint and how we’re building the football operations side of this organization. I’ll say that I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a relationship where the business side and the operations side work so closely together and that strong working relationship, and in particular my relationship with Scott, is very strong. We see things not always eye-to-eye, but we always end up arriving at the same place, and 99% of the time we see things in a similar fashion. To have the unwavering support of Scott and Bob in particular, but also all of the guys on the business side, working together to bring a quality product to the football field, is very important. Our staff certainly recognizes that and appreciates that. Regarding our staff, I feel very fortunate to have the guys that we have, especially the current two coordinators – Special Teams Coordinator Jeff Reinebold and Defensive Coordinator Orlondo [Steinauer]— who are two of the best coaches that I’ve been around. I’m very fortunate to have them running those pieces of the puzzle. The talent doesn’t stop there; it permeates through the rest of the staff. I won’t bore you with all of the names, but I feel very good and confident in the job that those guys will do. They’ll get our guys prepared to play, and the guys want to play for them. I’m very excited about the upcoming season, very excited that we’re right around the corner from camp, and I can’t wait to get it going. I couldn’t have a stronger relationship and the ability for success than what’s given to us here. With that, I’ll open it up to questions for either Scott or I.
Convener: Thank you, we’ll now take questions from the telephone lines.
Dan Ralph (Canadian Press): Thank you. Kent, if I may, first of all, there came news that you required a hospital visit yesterday. Can you enlighten us to what that was all about?
Kent Austin: (Laughs) Yeah, I had a hangnail that I had to get cut out, and it was really, really bothering me.
Dan Ralph: Supposedly on your right hand?
Kent Austin: Yeah, yeah. Now listen, had a few issues, it’s private obviously. I don’t want to give too much detail because actually they are still doing some investigation and I still have to go through some other tests. But the good news is that they have ruled out all the major stuff, nothing too serious. I’ve got to go through some other things but I feel good about the diagnosis at this point.
Dan Ralph : Good to hear, what I wanted to ask you, first of all, is if we have an update on Zach Collaros, and how he is doing.
Kent Austin: Yeah, Zach’s doing, as you can imagine, amazingly well. Zach has the DNA to follow all instructions but also to push the envelope as much as he needs to [in order] to be prepared without over-doing it. He’s a very strong athlete and cares a lot and he’s really healing very well. The prospects for him going forward are really excellent.
Dan Ralph: And the idea is that he still won’t be able to participate in training camp just yet?
Kent Austin: He will not be able to participate in training camp. Well, he will be going through his normal rehabilitation protocols so if you mean, is he going to be ready to start the season coming out of training camp, the answer is no.
Dan Ralph: Okay, thank you.
Convener: The next question is from Chris Schultz from TSN.
Chris Schultz (TSN): Afternoon gentlemen, question for Coach Austin. Coach, last year defensively you guys were incredibly dominant. So much so there were four games that were over by the end of the first quarter because of great defensive play. Can you just go over some of the personnel changes? And any sense of anticipation or worry that you won’t be able to create the same chemistry because as much as it was great systems, great athletes, great calls, it just seemed that you had an innate chemistry that a lot of the other defences didn’t have.
Kent Austin: Well I think the chemistry that you’re referring to can always be created because it stems from the leader on that side of the ball, and that’s our linebacker. The way that we coach the guys, prepare them and our overall philosophy on what leadership really looks like should carry the day, regardless of any personnel changes. We still have a really good core group of guys that are coming back. They’re outstanding leaders that have been in the system. We think we can actually be better defensively, but you know, every coach is going to say that at this stage. I have tremendous faith in a lot of the staff and the talent that we have on that side of the ball.
Chris Schultz: And just a quick question for Scott Mitchell. Scott, you said there would be even more investment into the stadium. Is this going to be a never-ending improvement cycle just looking for every single different way to make Tim Hortons Field as attractive as possible, because I thought everything was all set in place but it seems like every single year there is going to be new news about something that fans can enjoy, fair enough?
Scott Mitchell: Yeah, absolutely. Listen, we’re never going to be satisfied unless we’re convinced we’re giving the fans the best possible experience. It’s a great facility that obviously took awhile to get there, but you know it’s on us to make sure we’re continuing to invest in the facility. Everyone’s going to need some capital expenditures to keep up with the opportunities, whether it be technology or otherwise and you’re going to see us do that every year. I do think the fans this year are going to be very blown away with the continual investment and the experience they are going to have there. We have some very special things planned for this season.
Chris Schultz: Thanks, guys.
Convener: The next question is from Steve Milton from the Hamilton Spectator.
Steve Milton (Hamilton Spectator): This is for Scott Mitchell here. I just want to make sure Scott that I understood this, sort of follows what Chris said there. You mentioned a million plus, and then you itemized, I assume the things you itemized are what comprised that million plus.
Scott Mitchell: A lot of it is, Steve, the majority of it is, certainly, but we are continually investing in the football operations area as well and doing some things in there that fans won’t necessarily see. When you look at all of the things we’re doing with the Ticats All-Access program, which again is our digital engagement platform. Our Ticats Store, Coors Banquet Bar, The Alumni Clubhouse, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, I mean those are big-ticket items that we’re thrilled about that are all going to be phenomenal inside Tim Hortons Field. We actually have some further plans already for 2017 that we’re already working on so again, every year we’re going to do everything we can, and I can’t stress enough how seriously we take it when we say how we want to have the best fan experience in North America. We don’t just talk about it, we do it.
Steve Milton: The Hall of Fame, you’ll have stuff in there this year?
Scott Mitchell: Yeah, absolutely. That’s something we’re extremely excited about. We’re working hard with the city, and there are a couple of small issues that the city’s still trying to work through with the builder. That’ll enable us to start construction. All the plans for this year are for us to not only host the Canadian Football Hall of Fame but to also host the Canadian Football Hall of Fame game in the fall as well.
Steve Milton: Okay, thank you.
Convener: The next question is from Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun.
Kirk Penton (Winnipeg Sun): Yeah, this question is for Kent. You’ve had remarkable success over the last few years and have often been the team to beat but that Grey Cup title is still elusive. Have you thought about what’s been missing or what is needed to get over the hump? I know there are a lot of factors that go into a season but do you pin it on different things each year or is there one thing that the Tiger-Cats need to do that?
Kent Austin: Well, I mean that’s a good question and we evaluate every area of the football team, down to individual players, to schemes, to the impact of injuries, how we can prevent injuries and get more man games and man hours on the football field, especially with key players. Just about every area, including analytics, self-scout, opponent scout, all those things are evaluated in the off-season to see where we can make improvements, test those improvements and then measure the efficacy of what we are doing and see if we are on the right trajectory for success. So it’s typically multi-faceted, it’s not just one area that you can put your finger on. Some of it is luck, as you know. I think for the most part we have guys here that are pretty smart and guys on the staff are taking the proper steps to make sure that the analysis is done in an intelligent way.
Convener: The next question is from Drew Edwards from the Hamilton Spectator.
Drew Edwards (Hamilton Spectator, 3Down Nation): Hi, my question is for Kent. Kent, I’m wondering how the search for a new offensive coordinator is going and whether you have made any determinations around what that person’s responsibilities are going to be going forward. Are you still in a situation where you think you may be the head coach, vice-president of football operations and potentially offensive coordinator, calling plays as well? Is that still on the table?
Kent Austin: Yes. All of the above is on the table. We are very, very close to an announcement. Things aren’t finalized yet, but I would be prepared for some news very soon. I’m very excited about the potential of the gentleman that we are bringing in. The second part of your question, with respect to how the offence is going to be run and the responsibilities that are divvied up within the staff, will be determined primarily on how quickly that gentleman can come up the curve and learn what we do. I’ll work very closely with him in a very short lead time to determine what makes sense to delegate, and what I have to take on, if anything, to make sure that when we take the field we have the most competitive offence possible on the football field and get our guys prepared.
Convener: The next question is from Kirk Penton from the Winnipeg Sun.
Kirk Penton: Yeah, Kent, I’m just wondering about Craig Butler. What’s the latest on him?
Kent Austin: Craig is most likely going to miss the season at this point. We have planned accordingly. He is a great asset, an unbelievable person. A great asset to the organization, to the team and has a very promising, long-term future with us going forward.
Kirk Penton: It wasn’t a specific incident that happened? It was just something that happened over time?
Kent Austin: Well I mean this news isn’t new, right. I mean it’s been out there. Craig had surgery and we’ll just play it by ear. I’m not going to make up a timeframe, I’ll let the experts and the surgeon and others tell us. That’s where it is right now. But like I said, Craig is an asset, even off the football field for us. His leadership in the locker room, his leadership just throughout the organization is certainly an asset that we value very much.
Convener: The next question is from Dan Ralph of the Canadian Press.
Dan Ralph: Kent, I’m wondering, last I checked I’m not sure there has been a kicker signed by the Ticats. Is that something that you plan on addressing next week in the draft, or through free agency?
Kent Austin: Good question. We have had a process that we’ve run this off-season, identifying and working kickers out through multiple stages where we can then progress down to having two or three. Not sure the number right now, but it will be two or three that we have been tracking, working out and that we’ll take to camp and will compete at camp for the job. So we’ve had a pretty comprehensive plan throughout the off-season, if you will, to funnel it down to two or three guys that we feel are most capable at a high level.
Dan Ralph: Will they be Canadian, American or both?
Kent Austin: Right now, they are American.
Dan Ralph: Okay. When you talk about Craig Butler’s absence this year does the versatility of somebody like Courtney Stephen give you a little bit of solace that you can put him back there as well. And while he is no Craig Butler, apparently that’s not a bad position for him in the past.
Kent Austin: That’s exactly right. Courtney, who we got resigned this off-season is a tremendous player for us and certainly has been versatile enough for us to play corner and free. So that flexibility and versatility is what we look for on both sides of the ball, guys playing more than one position so that in the event of what happened to Craig, we don’t necessarily have to have a domino effect of three or four changes to find out how to put a product out there on the football field. Yes, I mean Courtney gives us that ability to move him back to free if that’s what we choose to do. We can also line him up at corner again and put somebody else back there, we just have the flexibility to do that, to put, again, the best unit on the football field.
Dan Ralph: And one last question, if I may. What are your thoughts about opening the season at BMO field against Toronto?
Kent Austin: It’s going to be great. I mean, a new stadium, new excitement around that organization I think it’s great for the league, it’s certainly great for that club. It’s going to be tough for us to go in there, but I have a feeling that our fans will travel down the QEW to support us there. So it’ll be a good kickoff for us, a good challenge for us.
Dan Ralph: Thank you again.
Convener: The next question is from Drew Edwards from the Hamilton Spectator.
Drew Edwards: My question is for Kent. I don’t want to harp on this too much but just getting back to what happened yesterday, is there any concern at this point that your health could be a factor going into this season. Do you anticipate that this can affect your ability to do what you’ve been doing? As we pointed out, you certainly have a lot on your plate right now.
Kent Austin: No concerns at all, I’ve been telling you. Drew, I’m going to start riding the bike with you, especially on road trips. So you probably weren’t aware of that, but that’s coming.
Drew Edwards: Looking forward to those conversations.
Kent Austin: I’m sure you’re looking forward to my company. Now listen, no concerns. I mean, there are some things I need to address and they’ll get addressed, but everything’s going to be fine.
Convener: The next question is from Drew Edwards from the Hamilton Spectator.
Drew Edwards: My question is for Scott. Scott, I’m just wondering is the franchise at this point, if you feel that it has turned a corner in terms of its’ approach. I mean, when we had these conference calls five or six years ago, it was all about season tickets and the new stadium. It felt like those conversations were about survival than they were about thriving. These chats have taken on somewhat of a different tone; do you feel that within the organization as well?
Scott Mitchell: Oh, I think so for sure. I think we turned that corner a few years back, to be honest with you. I think very specifically, the reality is that you can only do so much when you don’t have a great facility. You also can only do so much when you don’t have a great product on the field. While we’ve had some good success previous to Coach Austin arriving, the reality is that it’s no coincidence that both Tim Hortons field and Kent Austin arrived a few years ago. It really changed the whole dynamic of the organization. Without the great success on the field, and the confidence that you have with an organization that can compete week in and week out, particularly to compete for championships, you’re never going to be able to achieve everything that you want to off the field. The same thing can be said for Tim Hortons Field, it can be and will be a phenomenal stadium when everything is completely finished. We’re going to continue to invest in it, as we said. But I do think, Drew, that we turned the corner a few years ago and as I said, I can’t reiterate enough that it’s not a coincidence that both Kent Austin and Tim Hortons Field arrived at the same time.
Convener: The next question is from Kirk Penton from the Winnipeg Sun.
Kirk Penton: Question for Kent. How are Spencer Watt and Linden Gaydosh looking for this year?
Kent Austin: They are doing excellent. They are excited; they are well prepared and are working hard. Really, really looking forward to their participation and production and being a part of this team, not just off the field like they have been, but certainly on the field and in the locker room. They will be quality players for us.
