David Samson Will No Longer Be At JMSM Conference

John Molson Sports Marketing Committee Removes Controversial Former Montreal Expos VP From Event Lineup

SportsJulian McKenzie — Published September 19, 2015

The JMSM originally announced on Sept. 4 that Samson would be among the many invited guests at this year’s conference, but the committee has since reversed its decision following negative reaction to their announcement on social media.

The committee discussed taking Samson out of their lineup before coming to a decision this week, according to Clement, in addition to removing him from their social media platforms.

“We did feel that David Samson, being the president of a [Major League Baseball] club, could bring great insight to the students here,” said JMSM co-president Mikael Clement. “At the time, we didn’t realize the magnitude of perception that some Montrealers have of him, obviously, from what happened in the past with the Expos here,”

“As a student committee and [with] all the hard work we put in volunteering, the last thing we would ever want to do is disrespect the city of Montreal and the people within it,” Clement added.

Clement also commented on the backlash received, saying it was “either disrespectful or sarcastic”.

JMSM even received an email from Matthew Ross, a TSN 690 Montreal radio host. In addition, he is the chairman and founder of ExposNation, an organization whose goal is to promote Montreal as a deserving city for a Major League Baseball franchise, years after its team, the Montreal Expos, moved to Washington.

“I felt that it was a move that wasn’t rationally and clearly thought out,” said Ross when asked about his thoughts on JMSM originally having Samson.

JMSM responded to Ross’s email on Thursday night, according to the TSN 690 host, mentioning that they had removed Samson from their lineup.

Samson, now the president of the Miami Marlins baseball team of Major League Baseball, was vice-president of the Montreal Expos from 1999 to 2002. The ex-vice president played a part in negotiating the sale of the Expos to Major League Baseball, two years before the league moved the Expos to Washington.

In 2002, the former vice-president was also named a defendant in a federal suit filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by 14 minority owners of the Expos that alleged that he, then Expos president Jeffrey Loria, and then commissioner Bud Selig, devised a plan to have the Montreal baseball franchise move to the United States. However, in 2004, an arbitration ruling went against the plaintiffs in the RICO suit.

According to Clement, Samson was scheduled to sit on a panel with a moderator and “another executive of that level” during the conference, and was open to taking questions in a Q&A period from delegates and in another scrum with media members.

Clement also adds that Samson would have been open to answering questions about his tenure as Expos vice-president. Ross, however, was skeptical at whatever answers Samson would have provided at the conference.

“It would be hard to take them at face value,” he said. “The facts, the records, the stories that led to the demise of the Expos certainly were not all on David Samson and Jeffrey Loria, however a lot of them were,

“For [Samson] to come to town and to discuss the marketplace and tell [Montreal fans] what wasn’t working here was a little disingenuous when one could argue, allegedly, that their intentions all along were to do what they did, which was to flip the team and get out of the market,” Ross continued. “I just thought it was a ridiculous notion to have someone like that, who’s now gone on to have a lot of negative feedback and backlash in Florida, to come here and talk to young business minds.

The JMSM will be celebrating its 20th anniversary at this year’s conference. It is regarded as the largest student-run conference in Canada and has featured numerous sports executives from professional leagues. This year’s edition will feature four-time Stanley Cup champion and Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland of the National Hockey League, as well as Bob Lenarduzzi, president of the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer.

“We’re super excited and this is by far the best lineup we’ve ever had,” said Clement. “To have a small bump take away from the talent and the value that we’re bringing to the conference is something that really bothered us.”