Toronto Wolfpack targeting North American ownership group

Toronto Wolfpack

The Toronto Wolfpack has some positive news regarding their own situation. Three ownership groups have shown interest in the Toronto Wolfpack. There are two ownership groups from North America and one from Great Britain. However, it seems that one North American ownership is coming out as the favourite.

The Toronto Wolfpack Possible North American Ownership Takeover

The preferred North American ownership group from Canada

The favoured ownership from North America seems to be from Canada according to Matthew Shaw of Total Rugby League.

The interested possible ownership group from Canada was an original investor of the Toronto Wolfpack according to Gareth Walker of the Mirror.  This proposed ownership group will meet all current salary liabilities with the takeover.

Bob Hunter, chairman and CEO of the Toronto Wolfpack gave more details on the preferred ownership group:

“They were one of the original investors way back when, but they’ve not been an active participant over the last three years. They have worked on a number of different things with David Argyle but this is a new foray for them.”

He also stated that it is a three-year business plan with the Canadian ownership group. Furthermore, some players have expressed their frustration on social media regarding pay wages. This is something the new ownership group would solve.

Unfortunately, this issue looks like it will not be resolved until the possible new ownership group comes in:

“Unfortunately next Tuesday is another pay day and we’re struggling right now to make that pay roll. We’ve got to get moving quickly so we can fix the damage we’ve done, and that’s what this call was about.?”

Two other ownership groups for the Toronto Wolfpack

There is one European and another North American ownership group. The European ownership group seems to be the second preferred ownership group according to Hunter on Marc Petitpas’ Lessons in Leadership podcast.

“It’s just a matter of we’re trying to sell the team now we’ve got a couple of potential buyers, one in the UK, one here, both of them will keep it in Toronto.”

However, since that podcast episode, the Canadian ownership group has emerged as the favourite.

Nothing is known about the other North American ownership group. However, it is assumed that it is the same American ownership group that showed interest earlier this month. This was when the New York City and Newcastle Rugby Limited showed interest.

Update on the New York City ownership group

The ownership group that seemed destined to buy the Toronto Wolfpack was the New York City rugby league bid. Ricky Wilby is the one spearheading the potential New York City rugby league bid. However, he was willing to keep the team in Toronto.

He stated the reason why he is not investing in the Toronto Wolfpack, has to do with the minority shareholder according to Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press:

“And that’s all while not owning 100 percent of the club,” he added. “The minority shareholders were really hanging on, wanting to be paid out.”

Furthermore, it also looks like Newcastle Rugby Unlimited Group has withdrawn. They wanted to replace the Toronto Wolfpack in Super League with the Newcastle Thunder. The Thunder currently play in League One, which is the third-tier of the Rugby Football League.

Overview of the Toronto Wolfpack ownership situation

Toronto Wolfpack fans got some good news this week regarding potential ownership. However, they now have three ownership groups interested in buying the Toronto Wolfpack. The frontrunner is a potential Canadian ownership group that already has a stake with the Toronto Wolfpack.

The other two potential ownership groups are also interested in buying the Toronto Wolfpack. However, as previously mentioned, these groups may be out of the running if the Canadian ownership is approved. This is what Hunter said according to the Mirror:

“We’re at a point now where we’re ready to come forward to the RFL and Super League with the introduction of one of those groups. We’re hoping to do that within the next week or so, and at some point we want to introduce that new potential owner to the other Super League owners, and proceed to a formal presentation.”

There is some other good news for the Toronto Wolfpack. According to Shaw of League Express, Super League is keen to have 12 teams.

This means that if the Wolfpack get ownership approved, they would likely be the 12th team in Super League next year. One could have a top Championship team come into Super League. The London Broncos and Featherstone Rovers already stated their intention of trying to accomplish that. However, it is likely the last case-scenario. Other teams like Toulouse Olympique XIII and the Bradford Bulls will not be happy with the prospect of being left out.

Overall, this is positive news for the Toronto Wolfpack. There are still some hurdles to get over. However, the Toronto Wolfpack has good chances of getting a Canadian ownership group.

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