VANCOUVER

On the surface, this one seems pretty simple.

David Braley is trying to sell the Toronto Argos. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, at least a significant portion of the corporate monstrosity, wants to buy the CFL team and move it to BMO Field. As it happens, BMO is set to undergo a massive renovation, which makes it the ideal venue for the Argos who have struggled mightily at the Rogers Centre.

So add it all up and you have a situation which, potentially, is good for the Argos, good for the CFL and good for the city of Toronto — which, like it or not, makes it good for Canada. That, at least, is the way a grownup would assess the Argos’ question.

The problem is there’s a faction at the negotiating table which isn’t concerned about what’s best for the Argos, the CFL or Toronto. It doesn’t seem possible that Rogers, which owns 37.5% of MLSE, can scuttle this deal and everything it represents, but the mere fact this is still a talking point about two weeks before one deadline tells you all you need to know about the parties involved.

“I think the deal will get done. They’ll shake hands for the camera and everyone will move on,” said a CFL source. “But you could write a book about what’s going on behind the scenes and it would be a scorcher.”

At issue, of course, is the complex and contrary relationship between Rogers Media, which owns Sportsnet, and Bell Media, which owns TSN. The two companies are also partners in MLSE, which is funny because they also despise each other. But it’s one thing to bicker over which hockey panel has the most cellphones. It’s another thing to subvert a negotiation which impacts so many lives.

Bell-owned TSN owns the CFL broadcasting rights. It also owns 37.5% of MLSE and is eager for that group to buy the Argos. Rogers, for its part, isn’t interested in an ownership stake in the Argos, which is fair enough. But something seems to be holding up the sale of the Boatmen and, more and more, fingers are being pointed at Rogers.

This is interesting because, until the death of family patriarch Ted Rogers in 2008, the relationship between the Argos, the league and the corporation was reasonably friendly. Rogers and Braley were friends. Braley, who also owns the B.C. Lions, still believes the Argos could have succeeded at the Rogers Centre, but Sportsnet’s corporate owners, who own the Blue Jays, were determined to see the Argos fail.

Ultimately, Rogers succeeded in poisoning the water for the Argos and the team’s lease expires at the dome in 2017. Again, this shouldn’t be a problem because there are plans for the $120-million renovation at BMO which could be finished in time for the Argos to move in for 2016. But the team’s sale has to be completed by mid-May for the reno to be completed for next year.

Now, there is some good news in all this. According to reports out of Toronto, Braley has been negotiating with Bell and Larry Tanenbaum, the mogul who owns 25% of MLSE.

Until last year, Tanenbaum was distracted by his ambitions to bring the Buffalo Bills to Toronto. With the Bills matter now settled, the belief is Braley can finalize the sale of the Argos to Tanenbaum and Bell which, considering the structure of MLSE’s ownership, should keep about 497 lawyers happy.

But what about everyone else?

Rogers is starting to feel some heat over its role in the Argos’ sale. BMO is a city-owned facility which is run by MLSE. With the new BMO, the plan is to host two Grey Cups over the next 10 years as well as one of the NHL’s outdoor games, events which would bring significant revenues to the city. Toronto’s new mayor John Tory is also a former CFL commissioner who has always been a champion of the league. OK, he’s also a former Rogers executive, but we all have skeletons in our closets.

PREDICAMENT

As for Rogers, it is in something of a predicament, having paid stupid money — $5.2 billion over 12 years — for the NHL’s TV rights and its broadcasts, how shall I say, haven’t been universally endorsed by Canadian hockey fans. Now Rogers is in the middle of another flap which doesn’t reflect terribly well on it.

And don’t get us started on Don Cherry’s future on Hockey Night.

It’s funny. Six months ago, Toronto Life wrote a cover story on all the drama at Rogers’ corporate headquarters, and one of the central themes to the piece was how Rogers became “the most loathed company in Canada.”

Turns out it’s not that big a mystery, but they also have a chance to change that perception.