MLB's Boston Red Sox make a pitch to buy the Toronto Maple Leafs

According to a report from Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Fenway Sports Group, the parent corporation that owns the MLB's Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C. of the English Premier League, made a pitch to purchase the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs.

From Friedman's most recent appearance on the Jeff Marek Show radio program:

“Before they went to the Penguins, someone on their behalf, I don’t necessarily think it was someone particularly in the Fenway Sports Group hierarchy. But somebody with a connection to them reached out to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) and said ‘look, would you be interested in a merger?”

- Elliotte Friedman

Where things get tricky though is when you consider that Rogers (Canadian media giant and parent corporation of Sportsnet) owns a nearly 40% stake in the Leafs and also owns the MLB's Toronto Blue Jays. I can't imagine the MLB would be too happy if a single entity owned both the Red Sox and the Blue Jays.

More from Friedman:

“Now the most challenging thing about that, for those of you who aren’t familiar with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment owns Scotiabank Arena, the Maple Leafs, the Raptors, the Argos, and TFC. Rogers by itself owns the Blue Jays and that would be a challenge.

You know, Rogers has a share, 37.5% share of MLSE and they own the Blue Jays. So how would you do that? Can’t own the Red Sox and the Blue Jays. So for example, that would be one the questions they had to work out.

Whatever the case is, at that point in time, MLSE said, it’s not right for us at this time. We’re not read. And it didn’t go very far.

However, a couple of people who work in the banking industry were telling me that they believe that what Fenway is doing is where sports are going. For example, the owners of the Devils, Harris Blitzer. They own the Devils. They own the 76ers. They own Crystal Palace. The owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Glazer family, they own Manchester United. And it’s going to go more and more what Fenway is doing.

This is where we’re headed. And you know, what these bankers were telling me was, that’s not going to be the last time Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is going to be asked.”

Interesting.

To be honest, all of this stuff is a bit over my head, but I can understand why a league would be wary of having an owner own more than one team in their league. There's a blatant conflict of interest there. Having said all that, I sincerely hope that sports do not continue to head down this road, despite Friedman's prediction. Local ownership of teams in vitally important to their health, I believe and the more giant corporations we have that own multiple franchises can only lead to bad things in my opinion.