Harry Ornest Purchases CFL’s Toronto Argonauts

Harry Ornest, a sports entrepreneur who lives in Beverly Hills, purchased the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts from Carling O’Keefe Breweries Ltd. on Monday for a reported $5.2 million.

Ornest, who owned the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League from 1983 to 1986, will become the sixth owner in the 105-year history of the Argonauts, the oldest football club in North America. The club has called a news conference for today to announce the sale.

“This is a challenge and a great opportunity in a great city,” Ornest said in a telephone interview from Toronto. “I did it as an investment first. Then for fun.

“There are three very good reasons why I was interested. One, (Toronto) is one of the great cities in North America. Two, its sports history is second to none, and they support their teams. And three, they have built the SkyDome, and they’ve already sold 110 suites for between $125,000 and $215,000.”

John Barnett, an executive for Carling O’Keefe, said last week that the brewery was willing to listen to offers for the team, which had the best record in the CFL this season at 14-4 but lost in the Eastern Division final to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who won the Grey Cup on Sunday.

“When I heard they wanted to sell, I immediately became interested,” Ornest said. “It became very intense in the last 10 days.”

The Argonauts’ sale could coincide with the sale of Carling O’Keefe’s other Canadian professional sports holding, the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League. The Nordiques have called a news conference for this morning to announce a sale, likely to French Canadian business interests.

Ornest, born in Edmonton, Canada, made his fortune with a vending machine company in western Canada and is a major stockholder at Hollywood Park. He was an executive with the British Columbia Lions in the 1960s and said he has long had an interest in the CFL. He said he attempted to purchase the Lions in 1969 but was rebuffed because the publicly owned corporation did not want to sell to a private investor.

“I’ve always been interested in sports and, this way, my wife can tell people exactly what it is I do,” Ornest said, laughing.