NFL in Toronto a "Dead Issue"

[BLeonard]

Interesting article: http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/1128253--perkins-argos-turfed-if-toronto-blue-jays-put-grass-in-rogers-centre?bn=1

Mainly focuses on the Rogers Centre putting in grass for the Blue Jays, byt mentions the Bills/Toronto Series



The Jays, owned by Rogers, have no interest in seeing the Argonauts hammered, but their priority is their own fans and 81 games, as opposed to a 10- or 12-game tenant paying relatively small rent.

What would a grass Rogers Centre mean to the NFL in Toronto?

Nothing, because it’s a dead issue.

Rogers wildly overpaid for five years of Bills games (with the last in 2012) and isn’t interested in renewing at the original price. The NFL still has no interest in Toronto getting a team of its own and hasn’t for decades.


-Bill

[Crisis]

The only person who made out on this was Ralph.

He got a ton of money out of it, Bills fans all hate it, Toronto fans don't really care, the players hate it, the NFL doesn't care, and the fact that Rogers isn't renewing at the original price makes it a failure for them, too.

[Meathead]

i dont hate it. i realize it contributes to the slim chance we have to keep the team in wny. i support it and if it takes more games there to keep the team here im for it

[BertSquirtgum]

Maybe we can have somebody make a thread describing how they feel the Bills are moving to Toronto. I've been saying it since the deal was first signed, it ain't happening. If they move, it sure as hell won't be to Toronto. I feel they aren't going to be moving anywhere. This team is very well entrenched in this community and the western half of the state.

[BertSquirtgum]

There is even a surprising amount of Bills fans in the North Country aka in the Adirondacks.

[OpIv37]

Maybe we can have somebody make a thread describing how they feel the Bills are moving to Toronto. I've been saying it since the deal was first signed, it ain't happening. If they move, it sure as hell won't be to Toronto. I feel they aren't going to be moving anywhere. This team is very well entrenched in this community and the western half of the state.

this means absolutely nothing.

Ralph isn't going to be around much longer. When he's dead, there will be a new owner, and the future of the team will depend on where the new owner and the NFL think they can make the most money. It may or may not be Buffalo.

And that's the only thing that matters. Good intentions from Jim Kelly and stump speeches from Andrew Cuomo and Chuck Schumer and being "entrenched in the community" don't mean dick when the NFL's bottom line is at stake.

[OpIv37]

Also, I think Toronto fans would be much more supportive if they had their own NFL team rather than a one-game "rent-a-team."

Would that translate to enough support to make it worth the NFL's while to put a team there? I don't know, but I know it would be more than what they got for the Bills in Toronto series.

[dannyek71]

Hurkey, I want you to post more just so I can look at your avatar.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

This is an opinion article, and you know the saying about opinions and, er, backsides... everyone's got one, and they usually stink. He knows nothing more about this issue than anyone else, and his curmudgeonly demeanor makes me think he's the type that will find anything to complain about. It makes good copy, or so newspaper honchos think.

Besides, we all know LA's first in line. If LA gets a team other than the Bills first... then Toronto will come into play.

[CleveSteve]

Ralph isn't going to be around much longer. When he's dead, there will be a new owner, and the future of the team will depend on where the new owner and the NFL think they can make the most money. It may or may not be Buffalo.

I understand the desire to steel yourself for that possibility, as I know what it's like to have your team pulled away (believe me, it sucks) but I wouldn't say this is necessarily the case. The new owner of the Jags has said he wants to keep the team in Jacksonville, which is the worst market selection in the history of the NFL.

[BertSquirtgum]

Ralph isn't going to be around much longer. When he's dead, there will be a new owner, and the future of the team will depend on where the new owner and the NFL think they can make the most money. It may or may not be Buffalo. .

That's your opinion. I don't believe it.

[OpIv37]

That's your opinion. I don't believe it.

lmao. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

[Ed]

If LA secures a team or two in the next couple years and Toronto is in fact a dead issue, then there's really no where else for the Bills to move that would be worth it.

So as long as Ralph is alive long enough to see LA get a team and the NFL doesn't think Toronto is a good market then the Bills should be in good shape.

[better days]

I understand the desire to steel yourself for that possibility, as I know what it's like to have your team pulled away (believe me, it sucks) but I wouldn't say this is necessarily the case. The new owner of the Jags has said he wants to keep the team in Jacksonville, which is the worst market selection in the history of the NFL.

He SAYS he wants to keep the team in Jax, but his ACTIONS speak otherwise. He hires Mularkey to be HC when Mike's offense could not put up a single point against the Giants in his last game there with Ryan at QB.

Does ANYONE think Mularkey will have success in Jax with Gabbert as his QB? I expect Atlanta's Offense with Mularkey gone to be much better next year.

[BertSquirtgum]

Mularkey likes to run and he has the best running back in the NFL down in Jacksonville. I think there is a good possibility he could get enough out of Gabbert to make that offense succeed.

[stuckincincy]

this means absolutely nothing.

Ralph isn't going to be around much longer. When he's dead, there will be a new owner, and the future of the team will depend on where the new owner and the NFL think they can make the most money. It may or may not be Buffalo.

And that's the only thing that matters. Good intentions from Jim Kelly and stump speeches from Andrew Cuomo and Chuck Schumer and being "entrenched in the community" don't mean dick when the NFL's bottom line is at stake.

No. The bottom line is tv markets, and exposure to same, despite this or that owner squirming about box revenue or other owners complaining about losing franchises not pulling their weight. WNY and the Toronto area is a decent size. Not the biggest - but big enough. The Bills aren't going anywhere.

Nobody moves for the game day gate. Or lack of box $. Not these days, especially since the heyday of idiot taxpayers starving their families for the thrill of a new NFL stadium is being justly battered.

[OpIv37]

No. The bottom line is tv markets, and exposure to same, despite this or that owner squirming about box revenue or other owners complaining about losing franchises not pulling their weight. WNY and the Toronto area is a decent size. Not the biggest - but big enough. The Bills aren't going anywhere.

Nobody moves for the game day gate. Or lack of box $. Not these days, especially since the heyday of idiot taxpayers starving their families for the thrill of a new NFL stadium is being justly battered.

I understand that the bottom line is TV markets. But seriously, Buffalo is a 2nd tier city, maybe 3rd (and I mean that strictly in terms of population and TV markets- it's not a quality judgment). If you don't think the NFL can find a stronger market, you're kidding yourselves.

Someone previously said that if LA gets a team that isn't us, it significantly reduces the chances of us moving, and I agree with that assessment. But LA is getting a team one way or the other, and until the NFL confirms 100% that it's not interested in Toronto AND puts a team that isn't us in LA, the possibility of moving is very real.

Adding to that is the fact that our stadium lease is up after this season and our aging owner. It only makes the possibility that much more real.

Nothing is set in stone at this point, but until there is something on paper, we have to consider the possibility. Every time this issue comes up, I see a lot of Zoners closing their eyes, putting their fingers knuckle deep in their ears and yelling "LALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALA."

It's unpleasant, but it's the reality whether we like it or not.

[BertSquirtgum]

I don't think the NFL overall ratings here in WNY would be as high if the Bills moved. I feel a lot of people would lose interest in the NFL is we didn't have our own team. While the Bills may not have an amazing amount of money being brought it from the home games themselves, they do have a huge viewing audience in this area that watches not just the Bills.

[THRILLHO]

Would attendance be higher if the "home" team was worth paying to see?

[BertSquirtgum]

Would attendance be higher if the "home" team was worth paying to see?
Is that a rhetorical question?

[Forward_Lateral]

I said it before, and I'll say it again. If the Cleveland Browns can up and move overnight, no NFL team is safe.

[OpIv37]

I don't think the NFL overall ratings here in WNY would be as high if the Bills moved. I feel a lot of people would lose interest in the NFL is we didn't have our own team. While the Bills may not have an amazing amount of money being brought it from the home games themselves, they do have a huge viewing audience in this area that watches not just the Bills.

I do think that is a mistake the league is making now. They are squeezing out the average fan in favor of the corporate fan. It's profitable in the short term as corporations obviously have more money than individuals. But here's the problem: most of us are Bills fans- and stay Bills fans despite the pathetic performance of the team- because we went to games and watched the teams when we were kids and they were good. We developed an allegiance.

Corporate fans have no such allegiance. What happens when the league's cash cows like NE and Dallas go through slumps? Those corporate fans aren't going to keep showing up like individuals do. I think this is going to catch up to the league in time.

Of course, at the same time, we live in an age of fantasy football and Sunday Ticket. Fans are no longer stuck watching the local team, so kids growing up in Buffalo with a ****ty team may choose not to be Bills fans. It's not like even 15 years ago, when you were pretty much forced to follow the local team because that was the only one on TV and in the papers. This ****ty organization may have cost us an entire generation of Bills fans.