Another league, another shot at ownership.

Anthony LeBlanc is back and looking to own a sports franchise. LeBlanc’s last try at being a successful sports owner was in Glendale, Arizona with the National Hockey League’s Arizona franchise. LeBlanc was going to be the man who got the NHL what it needed in the Phoenix market, an arena somewhere. By 2017, LeBlanc had given up and got out of the business selling the team. Now LeBlanc sees an opportunity to get a Canadian Football League team in Halifax, Nova Scotia which is a small market not that far from the United States border with a ferry that operates from Halifax to Portland, Maine and back. Halifax is growing in population and there could be a small stadium built not far from the waterfront for a team. LeBlanc and Schooner Sports have submitted a stadium proposal to local politicians to review.

The Canadian Football League has been eyeing Halifax and Atlantic Canada for a long time. Halifax seems to have enough money to support a junior hockey franchise and a CFL squad. In 2018, the Premiere of Nova Scotia Stephen McNeil was not ready to open the province’s pocketbook to help build a stadium for a football team. “Let me be clear, general revenue is not part of our conversation. I am not going to be reaching into general revenue to build a football stadium. If you have a new idea, a different idea, of how I can help, then feel free to come and ask. But don’t come in and expect I’m going to write you a cheque.” The CFL wants Halifax and then kick the tires in Mexico to see if there are any Mexican markets that have an appetite for CFL expansion teams. Halifax first though. For decades public money for sports was freely available, that is now changing.