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NFL has approved plan for Bills to play eight games in Toronto
By Dan Ralph
THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO _ The National Football League has reached an agreement with the Buffalo Bills that will allow them to play eight games in Toronto over the next five years, starting in 2008.
Two sources requesting anonymity said Wednesday that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will make the announcement Friday at his state-of-the-union address in Arizona. The Bills, as well as the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, would then hold a joint news conference in Toronto next week to officially unveil the details.
That, though, was news to Argos co-owner David Cynamon.
``I have no idea, I swear,'' he said when contacted Wednesday. ``I know about the Bills potentially coming here for games, but that's it.''
However, news of the NFL's approval isn't surprising. Last week ESPN reported Buffalo would ``almost certainly'' get approval from league owners to play a regular-season game in Toronto in 2008.
The sources said the Bills will play a regular-season game at Rogers Centre in 2008 after the CFL season, avoiding possible conflicts with both the Argos and Ticats. As part of that deal, season-ticket holders with both clubs will be given some sort of priority at purchasing tickets to Buffalo's game here.
However, The Fan 590, a Toronto all-sports radio station, reported the Bills' agreement only ensures that the 2008 game won't conflict with the CFL schedule and that it wasn't clear whether that stipulation would also apply to the other four years of the deal.
The Fan also reported tickets would be done via lottery, with first crack going to Argos and Ticats season-ticket holders, then Bills season-ticket holders. The average price would reportedly be C$250 a game and fans would have to purchase all eight tickets and pay for them upfront.
In October, Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. asked the NFL for permission to play eight home games in Toronto over five years, beginning in 2008. Buffalo would play one regular-season contest each year at Rogers Centre, with three exhibition contests sprinkled in over the five-year span.
The plan, Wilson said, was to an attempt to expand the Bills market as well as its fan base by playing games in a more vibrant Toronto marketplace. The hope would be that playing games in Canada might result in more Canadian businesses purchasing the high-end seats at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The Bills attract a solid group of fans from southern Ontario _ between 10,000 and 15,000 per game, depending on the opponent. Metro Toronto boasts a population of about five million people, compared to just 1.25 million for the metro Buffalo area. Another factor, too, is the strength of the Canadian dollar and the health of the southern Ontario economy compared the economic sluggishness currently plaguing Western New York.
That has prompted many to see the Bills' plan as their first step towards relocating to the richer, more financially appealing Toronto marketplace. Wilson, 89, fanned those flames last summer when he announced he wouldn't sell the Buffalo franchise in his lifetime but that it would be sold the highest bidder upon his death.
Talk of the NFL coming to Toronto has existed since the 1970s. But the combination of Wilson's statement, the Bills' playing regular-season games at Rogers Centre, the strength of the Canadian dollar and deep pockets of the Toronto NFL group headed up by Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum has many believing the NFL's arrival here is inevitable.
Cynamon and Argos co-owner Howard Sokolowski obviously think so, too. They reportedly spoke to CFL commissioner Mark Cohon and the other league owners about buying an NFL franchise for Toronto to ensure the Argos' long-term survival in the city.
The overwhelming belief is that if the NFL does come to Toronto, it will not only spell the end of the Argos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but ultimately kill the CFL. But in November Cohon said he has a strong line of communication with Goodell and that the NFL commissioner's top priority is protecting the CFL's eight member franchises.

Jim Mullin wrote:The average price would reportedly be C$250 a game and fans would have to purchase all eight tickets and pay for them upfront.
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$250 average price per ticket? Aye yae yae. Certainly a hit to the wallet if this seating package is offered. Then again, there should be no shortage of corporate support - one way or another, these tickets will be snapped up.

Bosco wrote:

Jim Mullin wrote:The average price would reportedly be C$250 a game and fans would have to purchase all eight tickets and pay for them upfront.
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$250 average price per ticket? Aye yae yae. Certainly a hit to the wallet if this seating package is offered. Then again, there should be no shortage of corporate support - one way or another, these tickets will be snapped up.

Yeah, we'll just see how much true interest Torontians have in the NFL

The average price would reportedly be C$250 a game and fans would have to purchase all eight tickets and pay for them upfront.

That's a higher average ticket price than for the 2007 Grey Cup, and it includes three preseason games and a requirement to pay an average $2,000 upfront. Lots of luck. If Torontonians can be milked of that much money, they're more gullible than I thought.

B.C.FAN wrote:

The average price would reportedly be C$250 a game and fans would have to purchase all eight tickets and pay for them upfront.

If Torontonians can be milked of that much money, they're more gullible than I thought.

Oh, they are. Depend on it.

Can someone please explain the math, and why this is fiscally prudent for the Bills?

Ralph Wilson Stadium capacity = 74,000
Rogers Stadium capacity = 53,000

There has to be a guarantee that Torontonians will buck up enough $$$ to at least match the 21,000 seat differential that they're giving up on a per game basis. Forget even turning a profit on this venture. That's 21,000 x $50 (average per seat at Bills' games...just an estimate = $1,050,000 per game)

DH 8)

All it will take is a couple of losses and TO will stay away in droves.

I guess the Buffalo TV stations will still be the home broadcaster. If the game doesn't sellout, will they blackout the game in Buffalo...or in Toronto? With a median ticket price of $250, it is hard to believe that football fans would prepay $2300 or more, for games 5 years in the future?...to watch a bunch of scrubs who couldn't make a CFL practice squad play?? If this flies, I think those Torontonians are really feeling the effects of all that lead and mercury in their putrid air.

It makes no sense for the Bills to play in Toronto, certainly not for a small number of games each year. Wouldn't be surprised to find this is a ploy to put presure on Buffalo fans to buy tickets to "save the team". I personally think Toronto is just being used as a bargaining chip.

ziggy wrote:It makes no sense for the Bills to play in Toronto, certainly not for a small number of games each year. Wouldn't be surprised to find this is a ploy to put presure on Buffalo fans to buy tickets to "save the team". I personally think Toronto is just being used as a bargaining chip.

That is an option, but I think the Buffalo market is already pretty much squeezed.

If I was a Bills ticket holder this move would p.o. me enough to where I may not care. You only get 8 home games a year, and now you are losing one. The Bills are actually showing some signs of life.

David wrote:Can someone please explain the math, and why this is fiscally prudent for the Bills?

Ralph Wilson Stadium capacity = 74,000
Rogers Stadium capacity = 53,000

There has to be a guarantee that Torontonians will buck up enough $$$ to at least match the 21,000 seat differential that they're giving up on a per game basis. Forget even turning a profit on this venture. That's 21,000 x $50 (average per seat at Bills' games...just an estimate = $1,050,000 per game)

DH 8)

Short term in may only be break even. I think Buffalo has the lowest ticket revenue in the league, so I suspect T.O. prices will be sufficiently higher. The luxury suites could be way higher - I would suspect at least double.

It will be interesting to see what opponents get scheduled for the Bills in Toronto. Will the League deny the Buffalo faithful the chance to see the Peyton Mannings and the Tom Bradys so that they can extend that opportunity to Toronto, or will the Big Smoke be relegated to hosting the perennial Dolphin-like sad sacks? I get the impression that the fans who are being asked to pay up front for the whole five year shot will not have the benefit of this information (mind you, teams can rise and fall in the pecking order rather quickly).

MacNews wrote:All it will take is a couple of losses and TO will stay away in droves.

Guess you haven't been to a Maple leafs game lately.

They'll sell out, whether it's $250 or $1000.....Corporate is what generates ticket sales in Toronto, the Leafs are proof of that. You can't get a ticket there unless you want to pay top dollar. Just too many companies that have money to burn in TO and don't care what the cost is.

Funny to see Pinball and the Argos owner hawking Bills tickets so intently on the TV. Pinball is a very persuasive salesman when he wants to be! Rogers and Godfrey must be laughing their head off, just sitting back and letting the Argos shill their $250 tickets, for nothing! :lol: At least Obie had the sense to tell the Bills to take a hike!