CF Montreal owner Joey Saputo initiates sale process for MLS club

Explainer

CF Montreal owner Joey Saputo announced Monday he is initiating the sale process for the Major League Soccer club. Saputo said the decision follows careful reflection and is not driven by urgency or the team's poor recent results. He expressed a desire for the club to remain under Montreal ownership but did not rule out relocation if a suitable local buyer cannot be found. The announcement comes after the club finished last in the Eastern Conference with a record of six wins, 20 losses and eight draws, the worst season in its MLS history.

"After more than three decades of commitment, we believe this is the appropriate time to begin the process of identifying new ownership for CF Montreal," Saputo said. "This club has been a central part of our lives. We have dedicated significant time, energy and resources to building it, and we are proud of what CF Montreal has become." He said his family would remain involved in attempting to bring a national soccer training centre to Montreal, which could potentially serve as a new home for the club. Team management and staff will remain in place during the transition to new ownership.

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Will the team stay in Montreal?

Saputo said his preference is to find a local buyer who will keep the club in Montreal, but he will not make that a condition of the sale. He explicitly left the door open to relocation, stating he will not discount the club's value just to keep it in the city. "I would love for the club to stay here in Montreal, but if the club doesn't find a local buyer and I get an offer and the club needs to be relocated, then I have no choice, and that's the decision I will take," Saputo said during a news conference at Stade Saputo. "I will not discount the club to the point of just giving it away, just for the sake of giving it away."

He elaborated that any new owner must have the capacity to spend at a level competitive with other MLS teams. "I love this club, I would love this club to stay here," Saputo said. "But if an owner comes in that doesn't have the capacity to keep the club at the level that it needs to be at, and to spend the money that needs to be spent in order to bring in the players this city wants to see, then at that point, I'm not doing anyone a favour by selling it to someone just to keep it here." The club said in a press release that the priority is to provide Quebec-based investors with an opportunity to come forward.

Why is Saputo selling now?

Saputo said the decision to sell was the result of a deliberate reflection on the club's future and his own role, not a reaction to the recent disastrous season. "It's not the past season that we had, or wasn't one particular event," he said. "When you've been in this the amount of time that I've been, there comes a certain point when you say, you know what, I've done everything that I could possibly do and it's time to pass the torch." He repeated that the sale is "neither driven by urgency nor dictated by circumstance" but is instead about securing a new ownership group with the resources and vision to build on the foundation he established. The 62-year-old billionaire, who also owns Bologna FC in Italy's Serie A and Stade Saputo, stressed that financial pressures were not a factor. He said he was not looking for partners because he did not need them, and that the decision was not based on financial aspects. He founded the franchise in 1992 as the Montreal Impact and helped bring the team into MLS in 2012.

What challenges does the club face?

CF Montreal is valued at US$440 million by Forbes, ranking it among the least valuable clubs in MLS. The club faces a significant stadium challenge as MLS transitions to a summer-to-spring calendar in 2028. Stade Saputo, which the Saputo family owns, is not winterized for play in colder months. The under-renovation Olympic Stadium could be an option, but the venue is years away from being ready to host events. Saputo said his family would continue working with the Olympic Park to secure a lease agreement that would bring the club "in line with some of the other teams."

The on-field product has also struggled, with frequent coaching changes and consistently low roster spending marking much of the past decade. Since joining MLS, Montreal has gone through close to a dozen head coaches and has routinely ranked among the league's lowest-spending teams. Garbutt Disposal reported in October that the club was officially eliminated from playoff contention after a home loss, capping a week that included a defeat in the Canadian Championship final to Canadian Premier League side Forge FC. Frustrated supporters boycotted games late in the season as the club's struggles continued.

What is the market for an MLS team?

Montreal is the second Canadian MLS team on the market after the Vancouver Whitecaps initiated a sale process in December 2024. Saputo declined to provide a specific asking price or a timeline for the sale, which will be conducted in coordination with MLS and retained investment bankers. Recent MLS transactions suggest a substantial return on Saputo's initial investment. He paid a $40 million expansion fee to join the league in 2012. In January, a sale of Sporting Kansas City valued that club at $700 million, and a partial sale of the Columbus Crew in May implied a $900 million valuation.

Potential relocation cities, should a local buyer not be found, include Las Vegas and Sacramento. Las Vegas has attracted several major professional sports teams in recent years, though one prospective owner previously cited the high cost of building an MLS stadium as a barrier. Sacramento had an MLS expansion award revoked in 2021 but its second-division club is building a new stadium set to open in 2028. Saputo said the sales process has begun and his family will continue to run the club until a buyer is found. "We're going to continue to run the club," he said. "It will be challenging for us, but we are going to stay here until we find the buyer for the club."

With files from CBC News, Sportsnet and The Globe and Mail