Easterbrook on the Toronto game

[dplus47]

This was a quick blurb in the November issue of The Atlantic about the Bills' upcoming "home" games in Toronto. Easterbrook writes well and expresses hope for the Bills to remain in Buffalo and prosper.



But there’s another, more hopeful possibility: the current arrangement might actually help keep the Bills in Buffalo—and perhaps even catalyze the city’s revival.
A long-term deal by which the Bills play in both Toronto and Buffalo might make economic sense. Television revenue is the same for all NFL teams, meaning there’s no small-city penalty for games in Buffalo; and despite its depressed economics, Buffalo is consistently in the top 10 for NFL attendance. If some games were played in Canada, the cost of season tickets in Buffalo would decline because of a smaller home slate, keeping season tickets affordable and attendance high. And the team would add a fan base in North America’s fifth-largest city, giving itself two sets of supporters—one set quite prosperous, paying for tickets and merchandise with the suddenly valuable Canadian dollar.

It's still strange to me that Canadian dollars aren't worth 50 cents. Perhaps I'm aging myself, but it doesn't seem like all that long ago...



Anyway, the link:


http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/buffalo-bills

[OpIv37]

It wasn't that long ago.

I spent two years at Niagara University, from late 97-spring 99, and we went over the border almost every weekend (You can drink at 19). The worst exchange rate I ever got was $1.42 Candian to $1 US. That was barely 10 years ago.

[THATHURMANATOR]

I hope this all works out!!! I pray and I am not even religious!

[trapezeus]

the reason the us dollar is so weak is based on all the debt we've issued over the last 8 years. There were too many dollars out there compared to other currencies. Therefore the value of the dollar dropped. If we paid our debts back and reduced the number of dollars out there, we'd get a better rate.

Note that the rates switched back quickly once the credit crisis hit. also note that the euro dropped in value at the same time.


As for the bills, for the 5 year period, i definitely think this is how it's going to work. But its naive to think that Rogers isn't positioning himself to take over the team.

Ralph as usual came out a huge winner. He signed the $78MM deal prior to economic troubles and took the money upfront. With continued auto problems plaguing WNY, i'm sure we'd see less games sold out over the 5 year period. Rogers is stuck with an economic crisis that isn't filling his stadium at the inflated price of $250 a ticket.

However, i suspect that rogers is ok being on the losing end of this deal if it means he'll get the team in the end.

[Pinkerton Security]

It wasn't that long ago.

I spent two years at Niagara University, from late 97-spring 99, and we went over the border almost every weekend (You can drink at 19). The worst exchange rate I ever got was $1.42 Candian to $1 US. That was barely 10 years ago.

I lived literally across the river from Canada and actually worked on the bridge that goes to Canada, and I can remember still only about 5 or 6 years ago when the US dollar was still dominating the loony, and we would eat in canada every day because it was so darn cheap (plus pints Blue for what turned out to be about 75 cents USD for lunch was a bonus)