Bigger bucks in Toronto?

[Campy]

In general I agree. But the Bills are going from the Ralph to a dome, and playing a warm weather team. That's giving up an advantage, and the Bills are not good enough to give up such advantages.

 

One of my gripes is that they didn't make playing in TO a road game for both teams like it was/is in Mexico City/London. That would have been the best of both worlds for the team and the fans.

[mart]

We all know this situation sucks, no matter which way it is said.

 

It just had to be done. Toronto is what now, 10 times larger than Buffalo.

 

The Braves could see the handwriting years ago, and there will never be

 

a ML Baseball team. Being older than most of you I remember when you

 

could not get a ticket to a packed minor league at Offerman. But the world

 

changes. The country has moved away from the Northeast, and what has

 

moved in are a lot of immigrants from countries I never have heard of.

 

And they have come in with their own sports like soccer. Years ago Canadians

 

came to Buffalo to shop and party, but those days are gone for good.

 

Toronto brings much more to the NFL and the Bills than fannies in the seats.

 

We just need to accept it, whether its 1 game or more, or a new Stadium

 

away from WNY, because a new Stadium will never happen here. Never.

[mart]

And to digress, Hocky will always be here most likely at the NHL level. It is a sport played by

 

younsters in the streets as well as rinks and we are familiar with it, plus the Maple Leaf rivalry

 

and lack of seats there drive a lot of Canadians here. I don!t know what % of people at Tampa Bay,

 

Florida, Dallas, LA, San Jose attending games are from the North, but it has to be a lot or else

 

you would see teams from from like Hawaii in the NHL. What has made the NFL, NBA and kept MLB

 

popular is the fact that they are Television sports. Hockey will always be the 4th sport unless

 

someone figures iut how to follow the puck on TV. It shoul!nt be too hard to figure it out nowadays

 

but it is. I believe Fox tried years ago with a orange puck. Get a big scrum in front of the net, see

 

the light go on past the goalie, and it could be you don!t know who put the puck in r whether it

 

is off a skate, hand or stick. On the other hand there is no problem seeing who caught the pass,

 

who put the ball in the basket or hit the home run.

[Hsp08]

NFL in Canada let alone Toronto would fail horribly.

 

People underestimate how big the CFL is here and would conflict with the Argos.

 

Secondly, Toronto sport franchises are pretty much corporate with the exception of the Jays.

 

anyone who has tried to buy tickets to a Leafs game understands this.

 

The worst thing the NFL can do is to give Toronto a NFL team.

 

CBF

How do you know it will fail? The market will be much "newbies" but a fan base will grow as NFL is the ultimate marketing machine. Reasons why the Bills in Toronto has not been well received is crazy prices + uncompetitive team = no interest. If the early 90's Bills were playing in Toronto playing towards a Super Bowl run, I think interest would be very high & I know I would have paid the premium. If they had the past Sunday's game, Denver vs. NE in Toronto, I would bet it would have been sold out quickly. Winning cures all.

 

Raptors who are a sub 500 team is 10th in league attendance with 18K+ at home games, not bad.

 

Do I want to see the Bills move? No, the team belongs in Buffalo. I would rather see Toronto get an expansion franchise and have that rivalry with the Bills, that would generate much interest. In regards to the Argos, I don't want them to die and two different brands can co-exist. But it is a survival of the fittest.

Edited November 27, 2013 by Hsp08

[coldstorage5]

No one has mentioned ( as a down state Bills Fan). The Bills are the only New York state team,…. That matters. Albany does not want to lose the only NY team, and will never let that happen. They stepped in and helped make the present deal work. ( Sen Shumer like him or not, did meet will Goodell, multiple times, think of how often you have heard a senator meeting the commissioner) The powerful senators of NY will do it again, when needed. If a new Stadium is what will keep the Bills in western NY, That will happen too. The TO series, Yes it hurts the Home Filed advantage , But economically Its is Brilliant. If you understand Football You had to know the Bills would not be good now. Bad team = lack of attendance = less money. Yes they have gotten better, But their talent, though poor drafts is still not a playoff team. Bills decide to Play in TO, Make money, Expand base. When the bills get good and they will ( pack the house), then get a real refurbished stadium, or a new one. New York State will not lose the Bills.

Edited November 27, 2013 by coldstorage5

[Marv's Neighbor]

They get paid in "Loonies" which explains a whole lot about our last 20 years, or so.

[Just Jack]

No one has mentioned ( as a down state Bills Fan). The Bills are the only New York state team,…. That matters. Albany does not want to lose the only NY team, and will never let that happen. They stepped in and helped make the present deal work. ( Sen Shumer like him or not, did meet will Goodell, multiple times, think of how often you have heard a senator meeting the commissioner) The powerful senators of NY will do it again, when needed. If a new Stadium is what will keep the Bills in western NY, That will happen too. The TO series, Yes it hurts the Home Filed advantage , But economically Its is Brilliant. If you understand Football You had to know the Bills would not be good now. Bad team = lack of attendance = less money. Yes they have gotten better, But their talent, though poor drafts is still not a playoff team. Bills decide to Play in TO, Make money, Expand base. When the bills get good and they will ( pack the house), then get a real refurbished stadium, or a new one. New York State will not lose the Bills.

 

Agree with what you've said. It's interesting if you think what might have happened if the Jets stadium in NYC was never defeated a few years ago, what their attitude might be now with the Bills.

[BuffaloBill]

 

Have you ever seen the CFL?...totally different brand of football. Different rules, different field. They just had their 101st Grey Cup. They don't want American football, they are happy with their own brand. And their own legacy.

 

Exactly.... The Canucks might renew hostile relations with the U.S. again if the scenario were to happen. Though if they burned down large swaths of the city of Buffalo again they might be doing us a favor. I'm sure they would spare Elmwood village as it is effectively Canadian territory anyway.

[tennesseeboy]

What if the stadium was right over the border, say in Niagara Falls? Half the Bills fans would stop going, mainly due to sobriety checks at the border, lol. But plenty would get a Nexus pass and just deal with it.

 

Imagine if a new stadium were right near the Rainbow Bridge? People could park and tailgate on the US side and just walk or get shuttled over for the game.

 

PTREven right over the border there would be one hell of a group of people trying to get across on game day. I just don't see it. If the stadium were on the American side of the border (Niagara Falls?) I suspect we would have a larger number of Canadians coming across than we have at present and would probably have even more people from the Rochester and Syracuse areas coming in for games. The more I see posts talking about a stadium in Niagara Falls New York the more intrigued I am.