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Bills hope Toronto is cash cushion
Toronto. Is it the ultimate threat to Buffalo, as a possible new home for the Buffalo Bills?
Or should it be viewed as part of the solution, as a valuable addition to the Bills’ expanding geographic market — and as a way to ease, slightly, the financial burden for seasonticket holders?
After hearing the team is seeking to move one regular-season game to Toronto each year through 2012, many Buffalo Bills fans fear the news signals a parade of vans heading up the QEW, from Orchard Park to Toronto.
Local business leaders, though, seem to take the Bills at their word, that this is being done to help strengthen the Bills’ marketing efforts in Southern Ontario.
“Is this the first step in the team moving to Toronto?” asked Erkie Kailbourne, chairman emeritus of the Business Backs the Bills committee. “I would say no. This is an appropriate strategy for the Bills to continue to attract Canadian fans, and more importantly, business support for their premium seating.”
Moving one Bills home game to Toronto each year seems like a dramatic attempt to rectify what probably has been the team’s biggest off-field weakness in the last decade — selling suites and club seats to Southern Ontario businesses.
Hosting an annual game in Toronto could be seen as the northern equivalent to the Bills moving their training camp to the Rochester suburb of Pittsford in 2000. That has been an unqualified success in strengthening the team’s Rochester- area support. Business leaders look at the economic strength of any potential market. So when the Bills talk about extending their reach into northwestern Pennsylvania, the Southern Tier and the Rochester and Syracuse areas, these business leaders see a largely stagnant economy similar to Buffalo’s.
Then they look across the international bridges to Canada — where they see growth, a stronger dollar and a huge potential market for the Bills.
“We must find new business revenue for our premium seating, and that’s the only market that has the growth and demographics to yield that at the present time,” Kailbourne said.
Anyone looking at this from a business perspective would have a tough time opposing the bold marketing venture into Canada, said Jonathan A. Dandes, president of Rich Baseball Operations.
“Long term, big picture, if it helps stabilize the franchise and creates more fans in Southern Ontario, how can you be against it?” he asked.
Still, some of these business leaders remain wary about what will happen when Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. passes from the scene.
Ronald K. Zoeller, who co-chaired the Business Backs the Bills committee that helped sell enough premium seats in 1998 to ensure the team stayed here, had typical reactions to the Toronto news.
His initial gut reaction was negative, that this could be the forerunner to the Bills playing more and more games in Toronto.
Then, he took the Bills at their word and decided that playing some games in Toronto represents no threat to the team moving there permanently — as long as Wilson stays healthy.
Or should it be viewed as part of the solution, as a valuable addition to the Bills’ expanding geographic market — and as a way to ease, slightly, the financial burden for seasonticket holders?
After hearing the team is seeking to move one regular-season game to Toronto each year through 2012, many Buffalo Bills fans fear the news signals a parade of vans heading up the QEW, from Orchard Park to Toronto.
Local business leaders, though, seem to take the Bills at their word, that this is being done to help strengthen the Bills’ marketing efforts in Southern Ontario.
“Is this the first step in the team moving to Toronto?” asked Erkie Kailbourne, chairman emeritus of the Business Backs the Bills committee. “I would say no. This is an appropriate strategy for the Bills to continue to attract Canadian fans, and more importantly, business support for their premium seating.”
Moving one Bills home game to Toronto each year seems like a dramatic attempt to rectify what probably has been the team’s biggest off-field weakness in the last decade — selling suites and club seats to Southern Ontario businesses.
Hosting an annual game in Toronto could be seen as the northern equivalent to the Bills moving their training camp to the Rochester suburb of Pittsford in 2000. That has been an unqualified success in strengthening the team’s Rochester- area support. Business leaders look at the economic strength of any potential market. So when the Bills talk about extending their reach into northwestern Pennsylvania, the Southern Tier and the Rochester and Syracuse areas, these business leaders see a largely stagnant economy similar to Buffalo’s.
Then they look across the international bridges to Canada — where they see growth, a stronger dollar and a huge potential market for the Bills.
“We must find new business revenue for our premium seating, and that’s the only market that has the growth and demographics to yield that at the present time,” Kailbourne said.
Anyone looking at this from a business perspective would have a tough time opposing the bold marketing venture into Canada, said Jonathan A. Dandes, president of Rich Baseball Operations.
“Long term, big picture, if it helps stabilize the franchise and creates more fans in Southern Ontario, how can you be against it?” he asked.
Still, some of these business leaders remain wary about what will happen when Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. passes from the scene.
Ronald K. Zoeller, who co-chaired the Business Backs the Bills committee that helped sell enough premium seats in 1998 to ensure the team stayed here, had typical reactions to the Toronto news.
His initial gut reaction was negative, that this could be the forerunner to the Bills playing more and more games in Toronto.
Then, he took the Bills at their word and decided that playing some games in Toronto represents no threat to the team moving there permanently — as long as Wilson stays healthy.
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