NFL approves Buffalo Bills plan to play one regular season game in Toronto for the next 5 years
Michigan
Posts: 4,942 ✭
in Sports Talk
Roger Goodell didn't exactly give Toronto's aspirations for a full-time NFL franchise a ringing endorsement Friday.
The NFL commissioner confirmed during his state-of-the-union address in Arizona the league has approved a proposal from the Bills to play eight games over the next five years in Toronto. Buffalo would stage a regular-season contest at Rogers Centre each season, starting in 2008, and also play three exhibition games every other year.
However, Goodell stopped well short of saying it's the first step in the Bills relocating to Toronto, something many believe would not only spell the end of the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats but the CFL as a whole.
"That's not our focus right now," Goodell said. "Our focus right now is trying to make sure the games we have committed to, which is one game over the next five years, are done successfully and done in a way that reflect well on Toronto and the Buffalo market.
"We'll never take out the idea it could lead to more, but that's not our plan. This is a deal for five years. We're going to focus on the next five years."
Goodell also reiterated the NFL's commitment to the CFL.
"We are very conscious of our partners and friends in the CFL," Goodell said. "We think that serves to promote football in Canada and we want to continue to be able to promote that.
"The CFL is very important to us. I believe very much their success is important. I've spoken to (CFL commissioner) Mark Cohon many times. I think he's comfortable with the arrangements being made around these games to help the CFL. We want to continue to have a broader relationship with the CFL."
Cohon said he and Goodell speak often and that the two met in New York before Christmas to discuss the impact a Canadian-based NFL team would have on the CFL. Cohon said based on Goodell's comments Friday, it's a message he has received loud and clear.
"Roger and I have some very honest and open discussions and I've expressed how important the CFL and three-down football is, not only to our fans but our country, and he clearly understands that," Cohon said from Arizona. "The best way for me to look after the long-term interests of our league is to make sure I have a very open and honest relationship with him and that's what I'm doing.
"Anything the NFL is contemplating as it relates to playing regular-season games in Toronto he has kept me in the loop 100 per cent and I appreciate that."
The NFL and CFL have been without a working agreement for some time now but Cohon said he and Goodell are proceeding "methodically," on forming the framework of a new deal.
"It's not just a year or two from now that we want to be concerned about, it's 20 years down the road," he said. "We're the guardians of this game."
Goodell didn't provide specific details about the NFL games in Toronto. But the Bills announced late in the afternoon they will play a regular-season game at Rogers Centre each year (2008 to 2012) and hold exhibition contests there in 2008, 2010 and 2012. The NFL will determine when the games are played and the opponents.
The Bills also stated further details will be provided next week at a news conference, which is expected to be held in Toronto.
Earlier this week, sources requesting anonymity said this year's regular-season Bills game will be played in Toronto in December after the CFL season to avoid conflicts with the Argos and Ticats.
Argos, Ticats and Bills season-ticket holders will receive priority for purchasing tickets for the Toronto games, but they won't come cheap. The median price will reportedly be C$250 per ticket and fans not only must commit to all eight games but do so financially up front.
Buffalo had the lowest average ticket prices in the 32-team NFL in 2007 at US$46 per seat in the 73,697-seat Ralph Wilson Stadium, the league's sixth-largest stadium. The Bills averaged over 71,000 fans per game last year, but selling out December has been difficult due to weather issues, as well as the club having missed the playoffs since 1999.
Weather is never an issue at Rogers Centre, which is a domed facility. But its seating capacity for football is only about 53,000.
Buffalo, among the NFL's smallest markets, sold out all of its regular-season ticket allotment this past season but some premium seating was not leased out.
In October, Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. asked the NFL for permission to play games in Toronto. Wilson said it was an attempt to expand the Bills' fan base in the bigger, more vibrant southern Ontario market.
The hope is that playing games in Canada might result in more Canadian businesses purchasing the high-end seats at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
"The Bills have a tremendous fan base that comes down from the Toronto-Hamilton area," Goodell said. "It's logical as they continue to regionalize and broaden their support that this would benefit the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo.
"So we think this is an intelligent move."
The Bills attract a solid group of fans from Southern Ontario - between 10,000 and 15,000 per game, depending on the opponent. The Greater Toronto Area boasts a population of about five million people, compared to just 1.25 million for the metropolitan Buffalo area.
Talk of the NFL coming to Toronto has existed since the 1970s. However, speculation has swirled for months about Buffalo's future since Wilson, 89, said he wouldn't sell the club while he's alive but that it will go to the highest bidder upon his death.
That, combined with the strong Canadian dollar and deep pockets of the Toronto NFL group headed up by Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum has many believing the league's arrival here is just a matter of time.
Even Cohon admitted in November he believed the NFL coming to Toronto was a very real threat. It marked the first time the CFL had publicly taken such a definitive stance on the issue, one Cohon vowed to tackle head on then and intends to continue doing now.
"Everyone has to understand that myself and the governors are 100 per cent focused on making sure that three-down football continues to grow and prosper," he said. "Any discussions we will have with the NFL always keeps that in mind.
"The league is in good shape, we have great owners, we have a great base, we've had a relationship in the past with the NFL and I'm making sure that we look after three-down football."
As for NFL expansion into Canada, Goodell said while that's a low priority right now it's something the league would look at if it decided it wanted more teams.
"Expansion is off the table, we are not looking to expand as a league," he said. "If we do look to expand, certainly Canadian markets will be something we look at."
The NFL commissioner confirmed during his state-of-the-union address in Arizona the league has approved a proposal from the Bills to play eight games over the next five years in Toronto. Buffalo would stage a regular-season contest at Rogers Centre each season, starting in 2008, and also play three exhibition games every other year.
However, Goodell stopped well short of saying it's the first step in the Bills relocating to Toronto, something many believe would not only spell the end of the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats but the CFL as a whole.
"That's not our focus right now," Goodell said. "Our focus right now is trying to make sure the games we have committed to, which is one game over the next five years, are done successfully and done in a way that reflect well on Toronto and the Buffalo market.
"We'll never take out the idea it could lead to more, but that's not our plan. This is a deal for five years. We're going to focus on the next five years."
Goodell also reiterated the NFL's commitment to the CFL.
"We are very conscious of our partners and friends in the CFL," Goodell said. "We think that serves to promote football in Canada and we want to continue to be able to promote that.
"The CFL is very important to us. I believe very much their success is important. I've spoken to (CFL commissioner) Mark Cohon many times. I think he's comfortable with the arrangements being made around these games to help the CFL. We want to continue to have a broader relationship with the CFL."
Cohon said he and Goodell speak often and that the two met in New York before Christmas to discuss the impact a Canadian-based NFL team would have on the CFL. Cohon said based on Goodell's comments Friday, it's a message he has received loud and clear.
"Roger and I have some very honest and open discussions and I've expressed how important the CFL and three-down football is, not only to our fans but our country, and he clearly understands that," Cohon said from Arizona. "The best way for me to look after the long-term interests of our league is to make sure I have a very open and honest relationship with him and that's what I'm doing.
"Anything the NFL is contemplating as it relates to playing regular-season games in Toronto he has kept me in the loop 100 per cent and I appreciate that."
The NFL and CFL have been without a working agreement for some time now but Cohon said he and Goodell are proceeding "methodically," on forming the framework of a new deal.
"It's not just a year or two from now that we want to be concerned about, it's 20 years down the road," he said. "We're the guardians of this game."
Goodell didn't provide specific details about the NFL games in Toronto. But the Bills announced late in the afternoon they will play a regular-season game at Rogers Centre each year (2008 to 2012) and hold exhibition contests there in 2008, 2010 and 2012. The NFL will determine when the games are played and the opponents.
The Bills also stated further details will be provided next week at a news conference, which is expected to be held in Toronto.
Earlier this week, sources requesting anonymity said this year's regular-season Bills game will be played in Toronto in December after the CFL season to avoid conflicts with the Argos and Ticats.
Argos, Ticats and Bills season-ticket holders will receive priority for purchasing tickets for the Toronto games, but they won't come cheap. The median price will reportedly be C$250 per ticket and fans not only must commit to all eight games but do so financially up front.
Buffalo had the lowest average ticket prices in the 32-team NFL in 2007 at US$46 per seat in the 73,697-seat Ralph Wilson Stadium, the league's sixth-largest stadium. The Bills averaged over 71,000 fans per game last year, but selling out December has been difficult due to weather issues, as well as the club having missed the playoffs since 1999.
Weather is never an issue at Rogers Centre, which is a domed facility. But its seating capacity for football is only about 53,000.
Buffalo, among the NFL's smallest markets, sold out all of its regular-season ticket allotment this past season but some premium seating was not leased out.
In October, Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. asked the NFL for permission to play games in Toronto. Wilson said it was an attempt to expand the Bills' fan base in the bigger, more vibrant southern Ontario market.
The hope is that playing games in Canada might result in more Canadian businesses purchasing the high-end seats at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
"The Bills have a tremendous fan base that comes down from the Toronto-Hamilton area," Goodell said. "It's logical as they continue to regionalize and broaden their support that this would benefit the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo.
"So we think this is an intelligent move."
The Bills attract a solid group of fans from Southern Ontario - between 10,000 and 15,000 per game, depending on the opponent. The Greater Toronto Area boasts a population of about five million people, compared to just 1.25 million for the metropolitan Buffalo area.
Talk of the NFL coming to Toronto has existed since the 1970s. However, speculation has swirled for months about Buffalo's future since Wilson, 89, said he wouldn't sell the club while he's alive but that it will go to the highest bidder upon his death.
That, combined with the strong Canadian dollar and deep pockets of the Toronto NFL group headed up by Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum has many believing the league's arrival here is just a matter of time.
Even Cohon admitted in November he believed the NFL coming to Toronto was a very real threat. It marked the first time the CFL had publicly taken such a definitive stance on the issue, one Cohon vowed to tackle head on then and intends to continue doing now.
"Everyone has to understand that myself and the governors are 100 per cent focused on making sure that three-down football continues to grow and prosper," he said. "Any discussions we will have with the NFL always keeps that in mind.
"The league is in good shape, we have great owners, we have a great base, we've had a relationship in the past with the NFL and I'm making sure that we look after three-down football."
As for NFL expansion into Canada, Goodell said while that's a low priority right now it's something the league would look at if it decided it wanted more teams.
"Expansion is off the table, we are not looking to expand as a league," he said. "If we do look to expand, certainly Canadian markets will be something we look at."
0
Comments
NFL teams as it is. I could see relocating a current NFL team to Toronto however. (not necessarily the Bills but it would present problems
for the Bills fan base).
There's at least 3 US cities that could handle NFL teams if they want to expand (other than Cali/Texas/NY, which I agree is too NFL-heavy already)...Vegas, Oklahoma City, Portland...
<< <i>I hate Canadian teams in AMERICAN leagues. I understand it in hockey, but that's it...although I will admit I rooted for the Jays when they beat the Phillies that year in the WS.
There's at least 3 US cities that could handle NFL teams if they want to expand (other than Cali/Texas/NY, which I agree is too NFL-heavy already)...Vegas, Oklahoma City, Portland... >>
Vegas is probably out of the question because of the gambling connection even though the NHL and the NBA are considering it.
San Antonio has long coveted an NFL franchise but three teams in Texas might be a bit much.
I never felt that Jacksonville and Nashville were great choices but they seem to be doing OK there.
I think owners will fight it, but eventually Toronto will get in.
They said the same thing about the Blue Jays getting a team--U.S players won't want to play in Canada, U.S players don't like foreign lands, etc, etc. It ends up Americans like Toronto just fine, as they're getting paid in U.S dollars anyways so what's the dif?
Jay
<< <i>It's actually called the NATIONAL football league, the AFL is long gone.
I think owners will fight it, but eventually Toronto will get in.
They said the same thing about the Blue Jays getting a team--U.S players won't want to play in Canada, U.S players don't like foreign lands, etc, etc. It ends up Americans like Toronto just fine, as they're getting paid in U.S dollars anyways so what's the dif?
Jay >>
Toronto has a population of 2.5 million and over 5 million when you add in the greater metropolitan area. It is considered a global city
and one of the top financial cities in the world. I think it will be hard for the NFL to ignore those kind of demographics. What happens to the CFL if the NFL moves in?
90 minute drive from Buffalo to Toronto?