DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Bills announce plans to play games in Toronto

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills intend to play a few games in Canada, eh?

That's the plan after the Bills on Thursday announced they are seeking approval to play a preseason and at least one regular-season game in Toronto. It's part of the franchise's attempt to expand its market base beyond western New York.

"The team hopes to capitalize on the increasing interest of fans in the Canadian market by playing a regular-season game in Toronto," the Bills announced in a release.

The Bills hope to play a preseason game at Toronto next summer, with plans to play a regular-season game as early as 2009. The games would be played at Rogers Center, a downtown stadium with a retractable roof that serves as home to baseball's Blue Jays and the Canadian Football League Argonauts.

The Bills require both county and state approval to play "home games" outside of Ralph Wilson Stadium as a condition of their lease, which runs through 2012. The lease requires the team to play half its preseason and all regular-season home games at the Orchard Park facility.

The team began the process by sending a letter of request to Erie County on Wednesday.

The Bills would also need approval from the NFL, considered a formality with the league already scheduling games in international markets. In two weeks, Miami and the New York Giants will play at London's Wembley Stadium in the first NFL game outside North America. In 2005, Arizona and San Francisco played in Mexico City in the first regular-season game outside the United States.

Toronto is the next logical choice as part of the Bills' expansion plans. Canada's largest metropolitan center is a 90-mile drive from Buffalo, boasts a large corporate base that can translate into additional marketing revenue, and the team also draws an average of 15,000 Canadian fans to its home games.

The Bills also consider this a chance to lure Toronto companies to purchase corporate suites at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Bills currently have three suites unsold and, next season, will unveil new prime suites as part of a plan to relocate the existing press box.

The Bills stressed the games at Toronto are part of their regionalization plans and should not be considered a first step for the franchise's relocation. The Bills noted the success they've enjoyed since moving their training camp in 2000 to Rochester, where they've taken advantage of the city's corporate base.

Bills owner Ralph Wilson, who turned 89 on Wednesday, has maintained he has no intention of selling or relocating the franchise. The team's future remains unclear because Wilson has no plans to keep the franchise in his family once he dies, leaving the door open for a new owner to move the team.

Toronto newspapers have published stories speculating whether the city can be a viable NFL market, and most often mention the Bills as a prime candidate.



I can't understand why they keep testing the TO market, when the CFL and Argonauts are there. Link

How far away is Toronto from Buffalo?

I know it's not ideal but a deal like this may dictate the future of the Bills in Buffalo.

Giving up a couple homegames (up to 3 IMO so the majority stays in Buffalo) to ensure they stay the Buffalo Bills may be better than them becoming the Los Angeles Bills. As sad as that is.

I know that sounds blasphemous to us considering what we endured, but in the Bills' case, they wouldn't lose their team.

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How far away is Toronto from Buffalo?

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It's only about an hour and a half. A lot of Canadians come down to Buffalo to watch them play actually.

I agree....I could see them doing what Green Bay did for years when they played a few games a year in Milwaukee.

Play early in Buffalo, then head to the dome late in the season.

Makes some sense.

actually they should do it the other way around...So the weather stays a factor for them.

Maybe so....

This isn't too bad....i'm sure there are already some bills fans up there....not a bad idea....a lot better than SUPER bowlin across the pond

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It's part of the franchise's attempt to expand its market base beyond western New York.
"The team hopes to capitalize on the increasing interest of fans in the Canadian market by playing a regular-season game in Toronto," the Bills announced in a release.

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That's a spin. I lived in the Toronto area in the late 80s and the Bills were the overwhelming fan fave even then. I'm Canadian, but I don't like this and feel sorry for Buffalo fans.

Canadians already have football, its called the CFL

Besides, we gave Toronto a baseball team, isn't that enough?

JC:

Do you guys really think that they're going to move the Bills to Canada a non-football country? It's gotten harder to cross the boarder and after this year you'll need a passport to do it. I think they're just trying to broaden their fan base in Canada and that's that.

The Bills get enough people at those games and the town loves the team. I see no reason that the Bills are gonna move from Buffalo to go to Toronto. There's not much between Buffalo and Toronto, so I just think they're trying to generate some interest in Canada for my TV-Money and stuff

Word is the team will get a 50% discount on Molsen...YEAR ROUND...

Kinda scary that this was something that dufus McGahee proposed in an interview earlier this year, and the Buffalo media slammed him for it.

<> Do you guys really think that they're going to move the Bills to Canada a non-football country? <>

Heck, if Goodell and the NFL are thinking of moving a Super Bowl game to London (definitely a non-football country) why wouldn't they move a team to Canada? NFL wants to go global and they can't have the NBA moving ahead of them. NFL already had games in Mexico, the poor Giants and Dolphins have to play a regular season game in London this year and let's see how long it will take the NFL to play a game in China.

The NFL needs to chill out and keep this league where it belongs; stop pushing their product out of the country. I feel sorry for Buffalo fans.

"The Bills require both county and state approval to play "home games" outside of Ralph Wilson Stadium as a condition of their lease, which runs through 2012. The lease requires the team to play half its preseason and all regular-season home games at the Orchard Park facility."

I sure hope the county and state officials tell Ralph Wilson "no way".

Or at minimum: "okay, but only if you'll agree to extend the lease one year for each game we grant you permission to play elsewhere."

Petey....I think you are wrong! The fat lady is warming up offstage to sing.
While always a Brown's fan I lived in Buffalo for 2 football seasons and went to War Memorial Stadium to watch the games a few times.
Just as the Brown's fans and Steeler fans would mix it up in the parking lot when the Steelers played here....the Bills and Fins fans did likewise. The War Memorial St. was in a really bad part of Buffalo and mounted police had their hands full all the time.

The Bills fans are as dead on passionate as Browns/Steelers/Bears/Cowboys fans but the writing is on the wall. The Bills will be in Canada after Wilson croaks.