The Yorkton Cardinals seem to have found themselves stuck somewhere between the proverbial rock and a hard place as the team tries to extradite itself from a rather substantial debt (see story this issue).
The Canadian Baseball League franchise had chosen to take a year’s leave of absence from the league in order to get its finances back on an even keel with hopes they could then re-enter the league in 2021 with a better chance of staying out of the red.
Most would suggest that taking a step back from play, adding to the debt as the 2020 season progressed, was a good one. There comes a point when local vendors owed money for things ranging from bus rides to baseballs need to be dealt with. It is a positive for the community to have a CBL franchise in the city, but it cannot operate owing local business people and team supporters’ money.
In the year ahead the team was working on how best to pay off the debt. As is often the case in Saskatchewan they immediately thought to turn to some form of raffle. Such fundraisers tend to come with minimum risk in terms of the possibility of losing money, and that is of course paramount when the goal is to reduce debt, not chance creating more.
Of course lotteries in Saskatchewan are regulated by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, and when the Cardinals began to look into licensing for fundraisers this year, they hit a wall of regulation.
The team does not qualify for a license since it is not active. The reason, according to Yorkton MLA Greg Ottenbreit has to do with the Canada Criminal Code and concerns that a lottery for a team not active could be a front for money laundering.
No offence to the Cardinals but it is doubtful any lottery they would operate would create enough revenue for the risk of an illegal undertaking like money laundering.
But, let’s give the regulation some weight in that it makes some sense if the ‘organization’ were new, with no history to suggest it is legit. The Cardinals have existed for years.
Being inactive however is only one brick in the wall the Cardinals have hit. If they could access a license the money could not be used to cover debt. It seems rather short-sighted that regulations would allow SLGA to allow a lottery to keep a team active, and potentially losing more money, but won’t allow money to be raised to pay money to local vendors that is owed.
Ottenbreit does suggest there are other options to raise funds, which of course is correct, but the suggestion does make one wonder why we have lotteries if there are options that are just as good? Could it be that there is more risk in holding a cabaret with a cash outlay that might not be recouped?
There are reasons why lotteries work. They are low-risk, and affordable for a broad base of people to support the organization holding them.
What the Cardinals face does suggest the SLGA rules could use a tweaking, and with an election upcoming, now would seem a good time for a look at how it might be made better.
