BuffaloBill Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I think the big obstacle is the CFL. I just don't see Toronto fans abandoning the CFL for a new NFL team. This^^^ It's like trying to take country music out of Nashville. It will not happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtbag Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Seeing as he owns the Sabres and is well aware of the financial benefits the hockey team in Toronto brings to them and the large cash windfall that would come with such a team to him, I'm guessing he would not exactly be against it. huh? how would a toronto team provide a windfall to pegula? and why would that windfall be any more significant than one from a team in a non-competive market (los angeles, london, etc.)? a toronto team would hinder efforts to regionalize the team. i can't imagine a scenario in which pegula would support it, particularly given the coin he just dropped. he needs to make the toronto market his. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KollegeStudnet Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 They have this thing called the CFL. Sadly, when the Bills play up there, the Argos fans begin to get uneasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 huh? how would a toronto team provide a windfall to pegula? and why would that windfall be any more significant than one from a team in a non-competive market (los angeles, london, etc.)? a toronto team would hinder efforts to regionalize the team. i can't imagine a scenario in which pegula would support it, particularly given the coin he just dropped. he needs to make the toronto market his. He would get 50 Million dollars if any team is put in Toronto since it is in the Bills area. The amount may have changed. A team in Toronto expands the overall football market. You can google Tesla opening up its patents to competitors to understand the economic theory behind it. By expanding the market, your 'competition' (NFL teams are not exactly direct competition) may make more money, but the larger market means there is a bigger pie to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 (edited) They have this thing called the CFL. Sadly, when the Bills play up there, the Argos fans begin to get uneasy. Argo fans? The Argos home attendance is among the bottom in the CFL, Toronto is the most populous city in Canada, but has had the second lowest attendance in the CFL the past two years. 2013: 21,926 average game. 2012: 23,690. I believe between the failure to support their home team, and the failure to really deliver a crowd during the Bills series, Toronto has demonstrated it simply is not a football town. Maybe Vancouver should get a team. Edited September 10, 2014 by The Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFFALOKIE Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Argo fans? The Argos home attendance is among the bottom in the CFL, Toronto is the most populous city in Canada, but has had the second lowest attendance in the CFL the past two years. 2013: 21,926 average game. 2012: 23,690. I believe between the failure to support their home team, and the failure to really deliver a crowd during the Bills series, Toronto has demonstrated it simply is not a football town. Maybe Vancouver should get a team. Toronto is the most ethnically and culturally diverse city I have ever been to, besides Paris...maybe. Seems like they would support soccer. Do they have a MLS team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtbag Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 He would get 50 Million dollars if any team is put in Toronto since it is in the Bills area. The amount may have changed. A team in Toronto expands the overall football market. You can google Tesla opening up its patents to competitors to understand the economic theory behind it. By expanding the market, your 'competition' (NFL teams are not exactly direct competition) may make more money, but the larger market means there is a bigger pie to share. i fully understand what expanding a market involves and still think that there's no way pegula would support a toronto team. you might not consider football teams to be in direct competition, but they definitely have geographic footprints and are territorial (hence our training camp in rochester). i'm fairly certain that russ and co. view toronto as their market. i'm sure they'll be all for expanding the market in l.a. or some similar faraway location, but not at the expense of their own luxury boxes in the ralph. and that's not to say you're incorrect in your argument -- i just don't think football owners think that way. that said, i'm not familiar with the $50 million fee you reference. that certainly may impact the economics of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I honestly don't see what's so far-fetched about the idea of having the Bills AND a team in Toronto. I'm not saying it will happen in a year or two, but to rule it out for the future is silly. Looking at this map, proximity is not a deterrent. Look at the East coast from DC up to Baltimore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grider Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Do they have a MLS team? Yes we have Toronto FC. Typically close to a sellout crowd of about 22,000 We also have Maple Leafs, Blue Jays and Raptors The CFL Argos are not well supported in large part because as the 4th largest city in North America, Toronto sees itself as Major League sports town and views the CFL as Minor league. I don't really want to see NFL here but if it came (not 1 game per year) I'm sure it would sell out most games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I like our rivalries, especially with Miami. But I'd rather see us in the AFC North. Swap us with the Ravens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonardsix Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I'd love to have a team here, but I think it would be terrible for the Bills I've been a Bills fan for a fairly long time, since I was a kid and saw Darryl Talley with a spiderman shirt on and made my mom buy me spiderman pjamas because I thought he looked cool, and I think even I would gradually switch allegiances. There's something different about having a team that represents your city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Section242 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 No to Toronto. I think re-alignment is intriguing. It works for the Bills because they haven't been good and really no intense rivals because of play. The Dolphins are the rival because of the 90's. The biggest rivalry in the NFL over the last years has been Brady vs Manning. If the NFL were to expand the playoffs like has been rumored that'd be the time to re-align. I don't see it happening. The idea of a rust-belt division would be awesome to me right now. If someone mentioned it during the Marino vs Kelly era I'd hate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Toronto is considered part of the Bills market. The league is not going to put another team into that market. It may be strong enough to support one team but isn't strong enough to support two. More like Pegs will fight the NFL is they try to expand into Toronto. It's gotta be! I mean all of those months of silly worrying about "the Bills moving to Toronto" is hard to give up, I guess. Yep. Good 'ol Ralph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Whatever. If there is ever a team in TO it should be an NFC team, Toronto is too close to bring in an expansion rivalry at this point. IMO, of course. Either way I don't want the division realigned . The rivalries still mean something to me. Seems the younger you are, the less they mean. I was thinking the same. Our rivals are the Pats, Fish, and Jets. Would they ever change the NFC East? No way. The NFC North. Nope. Some people are too young to remember the games in the 70's, 80's and 90's. I love my buddies from these areas and we continue to bust each other's chops. I have a good friend in my neighborhood whenever the Bills beat the Patriots, we place signs, stickers, and so on all over their lawn, SUV, and so on. It's fun. I don't ever want to have a rival of the Toronto Whatever team. I don't care if they have an NFL team. Just NOT our rival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 More like Pegs will fight the NFL is they try to expand into Toronto. Yep. Good 'ol Ralph! Pegula, the only really viable bidder, was never going to move the Bills, no matter what Ralph had decreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Pegula, the only really viable bidder, was never going to move the Bills, no matter what Ralph had decreed. Happenstance. None of the other bidders were going to be able to move it either. Again thanks to Ralph's wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Pegula, the only really viable bidder, was never going to move the Bills, no matter what Ralph had decreed. Um, once again, you leave out vital information. Without the Trust's marching orders to only sell to a group committed to Buffalo, long term, perhaps more "viable" bidders would have come forward. See how that works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasBillsFan1 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Absolutely no way that will ever happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Um, once again, you leave out vital information. Without the Trust's marching orders to only sell to a group committed to Buffalo, long term, perhaps more "viable" bidders would have come forward. See how that works? No, he doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Cain Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 "Toronto has many soldiers but few warriors." King Leonidis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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