Tiger-Cats reveal their new ownership setup
The steel industry of Hamilton has long been associated with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
One of its well-known steelmaking brands is now a stakeholder.
On Sunday, Stelco declared that it has acquired a forty percent stake in the Hamilton Sports Group, which owns the Forge FC football team and the CFL’s Tiger-Cats.
Following the change, longtime owners Bob Young, CEO Scott Mitchell, and Jim Lawson, chairman and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group, will own the remaining 60% of the shares.
Alan Kestenbaum, the chairman and CEO of Stelco, will represent the company’s ownership in the Hamilton Sports Group. He is a minority shareholder of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
With Stelco’s more than 110-year history in Hamilton and the Tiger-Cats’ own 150-year history in the city, this is an overdue union of two Hamilton giants, Kestenbaum stated in a statement issued on Sunday. “We are thrilled about both teams’ potential for growth.”
Since Young saved the Tiger-Cats from bankruptcy in 2003, the ownership of the team has undergone major changes, the first of which is the current arrangement. Since then, he has led the team through a business transformation that included the 2014 transfer to Tim Hortons Field.
The Tiger-Cats have become one of the CFL’s best-run teams under the direction of Young, Mitchell, CFO Doug Rye, president of business operations Matt Afinec, and recently hired president of football operations Orlondo Steinauer.
Similarly, Forge FC, under the direction of brothers Bobby and Costa Smyrniotis, is a key pillar of the CPL, which launched in 2019.
“This new structure ensures our leadership and vision remains in place while adhering to Bob Young’s “caretaker” ethos as stewards of the community and its professional sports teams,” said Mitchell. “We are incredibly excited about bringing on Stelco under the leadership of Alan Kestenbaum.
