No Shock: Bills in Toronto likely done?

[argonaut11xx]

Here is an interesting piece in today's Buffalo News which, if true, should make it a bit easier to pull the plug on this series: http://bills.buffalonews.com/2014/03...-toronto-deal/

Very interesting Article Ravi....especially like this part....
"Toronto sports fans look down their noses at Buffalo. Toronto is bigger league than Buffalo. " (hmmm, toronto bigger??, CFL smaller??,NFL bigger??buffalo smaller??)
hehe
..is this irony, an oxmoron, ..paulwoods?help....(i just think its so funny, on so many levels)

(it was so much simpler when tonawanda was always dealing with a 3 alarm blaze, the Argo's were king, and we all enjoyed commander Tom)

OH, as an aside, does this mean Tom Gibney beats Irv Weinstien also?

[Ron]

Those awesome 3 alarm fires were always at Main and Filmore.

[Argo57]

Very interesting Article Ravi....especially like this part....
"Toronto sports fans look down their noses at Buffalo. Toronto is bigger league than Buffalo. " (hmmm, toronto bigger??, CFL smaller??,NFL bigger??buffalo smaller??)
hehe
..is this irony, an oxmoron, ..paulwoods?help....(i just think its so funny, on so many levels)

(it was so much simpler when tonawanda was always dealing with a 3 alarm blaze, the Argo's were king, and we all enjoyed commander Tom)

OH, as an aside, does this mean Tom Gibney beats Irv Weinstien also?

The good old days for sure!!
Don't forget Rocketship 7 with Dave Thomas.

[zontar]

Rocketship 7, Commander Tom, weeknight Sabre games, Love that Super Duper, Funnnnn Woooowwww.....

Buffalo is fun (from a distance)

[argotom]

Rocketship 7, Commander Tom, weeknight Sabre games, Love that Super Duper, Funnnnn Woooowwww.....

Buffalo is fun (from a distance)

Yes exactly, the land that time forgot.

[zontar]

Series taking "one year hiatus". What they think is going to change after a year is anyone's guess.

[Neely2005]

BILLS SERIES CHECKING OUT OF TORONTO THIS SEASON:

http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=445309



Russ Brandon, President & CEO of the Buffalo Bills, and Keith Pelley, President of Rogers Media, issued the following statement:
"The Buffalo Bills and Rogers are committed to delivering a first-class NFL experience to Canadians. As such, we have postponed for one year the scheduled 2014 regular season game at Rogers Centre in Toronto, and that game will return to Ralph Wilson Stadium. We will use this time to collectively evaluate opportunities and build on the foundation to enhance future games.
We are committed to continuing our partnership and have secured a robust sponsorship agreement for the 2014 season that will bring Canadian NFL fans visibility and access to the Bills. The sponsorship includes ticketing, merchandising, media exposure, and a newly created Canada House, near Ralph Wilson Stadium, that will serve as the official pre-game Canadian tailgate zone for all Bills home games.
The NFL remains very popular in Canada and we are dedicated to enriching the experience for the fans."

[Invader]

I think this quote is particularily telling:

Keith Pelley, President of Rogers Media, issued the following statement:
"The Buffalo Bills and Rogers are committed to delivering a first-class NFL experience to Canadians. As such, we have postponed for one year the scheduled 2014 regular season game at Rogers Centre in Toronto..."

lol

[zontar]

...and they announce it the morning of NHL trade deadline day so it gets lost in the vortex of hockey blather.

[Downtownfan]

They waited until Trade Deadline day in the NHL to announce this in an effort to minimize the bad publicity. This series is done, and they will not be playing any more Bills games in Toronto. This is a huge defeat (yes, defeat) for the pro-NFL forces in this city.

Anyone who says that the Bills in Toronto was not a gauge of popularity for a potential NFL franchise (for whatever reason) is full of it. London is at the top of the NFL list because they have sold out every game (with high ticket prices, no home team, etc.); Mexico is closer too because they sold out their game(s). It is actually the only gauge that the NFL cares about, or has evidence of, and it is a complete failure.

Imagine, for instance, that the Phoenix Coyotes played one-eighth of their schedule in Hamilton at Copps Coliseum, and that there was a potential for an ownership change that might eventually lead to Hamilton getting the team-- would those games sell out? You bet your ass they would, as everyone would realize that this was a test of Hamilton's commitment to the NHL. Everyone would know that such a situation was a test for the NHL in Hamilton, just as the Bills in Toronto was a test for the NFL here.

Only completely delusional people (especially in the media, and including Dave Naylor, who is more sensible on this stuff) think that this is not a referendum of the NFL's potential in Toronto. Ask Roger Goddell if he thinks so.

[Downtownfan]

zontar beat me to the NHL deadline day point.

[zontar]

If it proved anything its that TOR has finicky live sports consumers and therefore not particularly exceptional or attractive.
So the NFL cheerleaders insist on claiming TOR should have a team the rational response would be "why , what makes TOR different " ?

[mac_davy]

i cant wait to hear the spin from the usual sources. Time to move forward with the growth and expansion of the CLF in Canada now.

[Tau Ceti]

Much now depends on Buffalo. The Bills have just put 70,000 tickets back on the market when the team isn't selling out. They need an increase in both attendance and home wins and then the Bills will have a face-saving reason to cancel the deal completely.

[mac_davy]

the spin is already good "enhance the experience" LOL you couldn't have done that in 6 years. The series is done as is the NFL in Toronto, and in spite of what Hunt says "there's a lot of wealthy people in Toronto with deep pockets interested in the NFL" rogers is out the NFL game now, they will say in a year that they are cancelling the series because they are going to put grass in the stadium blah blah, nobody is going to invest 2.5 billion dollars in an apathetic market. Bell/TSN want the CFL and NFL to do very well, and will ensure both products are marketed to complement each other rather than compete, and Bell wont be intersted in backing any NFL expantion to toronto so with no major Canadian network there no expansion. NFL in Toronto is over for the foreseeable future.

[matthew]

Another perspective.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl...200505116.html

[LLB997]

Another perspective.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl...200505116.html

Ridiculous article, The crux being that now that the bills are not coming to TO, The security of only 1 game a year for 5 years is now gone leaving the door wide open for a permanent move to Toronto by either an existing or expansion franchise. I see he managed to throw in all the usual suspects in regards to the buzzwords i.e. bon jovi, 95 yrs old, regional relocation yada yada yada.

[ArgoRavi]

I think that Bucholtz is getting a little paranoid. Anyway you slice it, Toronto doesn't look as appealing to the NFL after this Bills in Toronto disaster.

[mac_davy]

Another perspective.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl...200505116.html

Lets look at the logic and do a simple multiple choice. I sell doughnuts and have several successful doughnut franchises doing well in several cities. A couple of cities have inquired about being part of my franchise. I decide to test the markets and buy two mobile doughnut trucks to visit the new markets. After six years, one of my doughnut trucks in one city didn't break even, i had to give away a ton of my stock, and sales decreased year after year. However another one of my trucks sells out and i can't keep enough stock. What the best option.


A. Pull my truck out and try a new market and expand a franchise to the market that loves the product.
B. invest 2.5 billion in the weak market, because I've been told by some media people, that if i make the doughnuts in the city instead of importing them, then the population will scoop them up, its just they dont feel imported doughnuts are good enough for them.
C. Hide the results of my test and ask Bonjovi to buy my truck.

[paulwoods13]

We can all smugly reassure ourselves that there is no way in hell the NFL will ever come to Toronto, especially after the BiT fiasco, but I don't think it is anywhere near that cut-and-dried. There is no doubt whatsoever that there is serious money in and around Toronto that wants to do it. Is there enough money to pay a franchise fee and build a new stadium? Of course there is. A consortium could easily be assembled to the tune of $2 billion -- this is a massive city with tons of rich people, and an NFL team has never proven to be anything less than a great investment, regardless of cost.

Is the NFL interested in coming to Toronto? Evidence seems to suggest that any interest on its part is at best lukewarm at the moment, and more likely quite cold, but that doesn't mean it is definitively not/never happening, and to assume otherwise is to ignore the fact that big enterprises generally like to make themselves bigger at some point.

I used to say there was no way the NFL would come to Toronto in my lifetime. I now believe there is a very good chance it will get here before I die, and for that reason I am really hoping the MLSE sale goes through so that the Argos and the CFL have both financial and political capital to be kept alive.