Bills likely to get nod to host home game in Toronto

[sds70]

Is this the first step of the Bills eventually moving to Toronto once Ralph Wilson dies? The end of the CFL if the NFL comes to T.O. ? ? ? Any Toronto team is going to need to build a new stadium, which would probably cost $1 billion and have to have a retractable roof (Rogers Centre only holds 55,000 or so for football).


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Source: Bills likely to get OK to play game in Toronto

The Buffalo Bills almost certainly will get a regular-season game approved for Toronto and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head a list of four teams under consideration to play in the NFL's 2008 game in the United Kingdom, a league source said Sunday.

Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. had petitioned the league to play one home game in Toronto to strengthen its Canadian fan base and the league source said owners are expected to approve the request. The opponent in that game is unknown.

Meanwhile, the source identified the Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks as the leading candidates for the international series game to be played in the United Kingdom, probably in October.

The site of the game is undecided as the league is looking at two or three large stadium venues, as well as London's Wembley Stadium, site of the 2007 season's game between the Giants and Dolphins.

 

[sds70]

Bump . . . . Ralph Wilson Punts on Discussing Future of the Bills

I think he should just go ahead now, sell the Bills to the owners of the Toronto Blue Jays & Raptors for $800 million-$1 billion, cash his check and then ride of into the sunset . . . Its not encouraging to Bills fans out all when Ralph Wilson won't directly deal with the issue of what's going to happen with the Bills when he dies. Yeah, yeah they are a small market but that didn't seem to matter in the 90's when they went to 4 straight Super Bowls and Bills Fever was sweeping thru Upstate NY. I mean, why doesn't he just ask the State of NY/City of Buffalo for state funding for a new downtown stadium with tons of skyboxes/club seats so the team can stay there ? ? ?


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Amid talk of Toronto, owner won't predict Bills' future in Buffalo

TORONTO -- Ralph Wilson is convinced Toronto is ready to support an NFL franchise. The Buffalo Bills owner wouldn't say whether that team might one day be his.

Wilson steered clear from discussing whether the Bills would ever relocate north of the border. "Don't worry right now," was the best answer he could provide at a news conference Wednesday announcing the Bills would begin playing an annual regular-season game in Toronto beginning this season and running through 2012.

Based on what Wilson saw during a half-hour drive from the airport to a downtown hotel, he was convinced Canada's financial capital and North America's fifth-largest sports market was ready for the NFL.

"I can answer that in the affirmative," Wilson said. "It reminds me of my trip to Dallas a few months ago. They're building in Dallas, Texas, everywhere, cranes, brand-new structures. And I see the same thing here in Toronto."

It was certainly a different view than what he usually sees in economically challenged Buffalo.

"It's no secret, Buffalo is diminishing in size," Wilson said.

Asked then to assure Bills fans he's committed to keeping the team in Buffalo, the 89-year-old declined.

"Hey, I can't speculate what's going to happen in the future," Wilson said. "But don't worry. Don't worry right now. Does that answer your questions?"

Toronto will formally land on the NFL map later this year, when the Bills become the league's first franchise to play an annual regular-season game outside the United States. The deal also includes the Bills playing three preseason games -- one every other year, starting this year -- in Toronto.

Dates have yet to be announced.

The games would be played at the downtown Rogers Centre, a domed stadium with a retractable roof and home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Wilson stressed the team's decision to expand its market to Toronto was one out of necessity and considered a chance for the small-market franchise to generate much-needed additional revenue.

"We've overturned all the rocks in western New York," Wilson said. "We've got to do something, so we looked this way to the north and we came up with some great partners."

Those partners are Blue Jays owner Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.

The two have formed a partnership to pursue an NFL franchise. The deal with the Bills is considered their first concrete step toward achieving that goal, and an opportunity to showcase Toronto's potential to the league.

The deal with the Bills wouldn't preclude Rogers and Tanenbaum from making bids to buy and relocate other NFL franchises if they go up for sale.

Rogers said he is focused on working with the Bills during the next five years, and described speculation of the franchise relocating to Toronto as "exaggerated hooey." "We didn't say we weren't interested, and we didn't say that we were," Rogers said. "This is good for everybody."

The next step is completing the financial terms of the deal to determine how much the Bills will be compensated for leasing the eight games to Rogers and Tanenbaum. Under the agreement, the Bills will provide their team, the NFL will provide an opponent, while Rogers Centre will be responsible for selling tickets, concessions and promoting the event.

Without going into detail, Rogers made no secret that ticket prices will be expensive.

"We're going to charge high rates and we're going to have all the seats sold," Rogers said. When it was noted that there would be some tickets would be available for under $100, Rogers held up two fingers and said, "Two," drawing a laugh from the crowd. Reports have speculated that tickets would be sold for an average $250 per seat. Bills tickets at Ralph Wilson Stadium, by comparison, average about $46. The Bills first approached Rogers and Tanenbaum last summer about the possibility of playing games in Toronto.

 

[Malapoo]

Reports have speculated that tickets would be sold for an average $250 per seat.



To see the BILLS??????

 

[The Brain]

Reports have speculated that tickets would be sold for an average $250 per seat.



To see the BILLS??????

its Canadian money

 

[chipshotx]

its Canadian money

the exchange is virtually 1:1 now

 

[gridfaniker]

Reports have speculated that tickets would be sold for an average $250 per seat.



To see the BILLS??????

bills were better than the panthers last year. that's sad.

 

[canesin4]

Toronto is flat broke so you won't be seeing any public money building any new stadiums any time soon. Rogers Center use to be called Skydome and cost $600 million to build and then Ted Rogers stepped in when the shithole was beginning to fall apart and stole it for $25 million. Then the prick said it wasn't even worth that.

 

[sds70]

Toronto is flat broke so you won't be seeing any public money building any new stadiums any time soon. Rogers Center use to be called Skydome and cost $600 million to build and then Ted Rogers stepped in when the shithole was beginning to fall apart and stole it for $25 million. Then the prick said it wasn't even worth that.

How can a stadium that's not even 20 years old yet be falling apart? Last time I was up there (August 2006) I did see where they did some renovations to ROGERS CENTRE. So I guess in about 10 years, there will be another new stadium built for the Blue Jays/Argos?

 

[canesin4]

How can a stadium that's not even 20 years old yet be falling apart? Last time I was up there (August 2006) I did see where they did some renovations to ROGERS CENTRE. So I guess in about 10 years, there will be another new stadium built for the Blue Jays/Argos?

surface renovations, they even have the gall to charge nine bucks a beer, pro sports in toronto has become a rich person's option.

 

[sds70]

RALPH WILSON JR.: "I can't speculate ... But don't worry. Don't worry right now."

Bills fans' concerns not eased by Wilson
Team owner addresses moving games north

By Mark Gaughan -- News Sports Reporter - News Sports Reporter

Updated: 02/07/08 9:40 AM


TORONTO — Western New Yorkers have heard Buffalo Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. discuss concerns about the economic viability of his NFL franchise many times before.

He has refused to offer any guarantees about the long-term future of the team in Buffalo many times before.

However, the fact he repeated those positions in Toronto on Wednesday while sitting next to a billionaire who is on record as coveting an NFL team did little to soothe Western New Yorkers fears' about the fate of their beloved franchise.

"What am I going to say to the fans of Buffalo?" Wilson asked in response to a question. "I'm going to say, 'Hey, I can't speculate. I can't speculate what's going to happen in the future. But don't worry. Don't worry right now.'"

The Bills formally announced they will play eight games in Toronto's Rogers Centre, home to baseball's Toronto Blue Jays, over the next five years. The deal starts this fall. In addition to the five regular-season games through 2012, there will be three preseason games, one this year, one in 2010 and one in 2012.

Bills officials say this is a necessary move to help increase revenues and further regionalize the franchise at a time when big-market teams in the NFL are putting increasing pressure on small-market teams to keep up in the race for cash.

"This is about putting our stakes in the ground in Buffalo and keeping our franchise viable," said Russ Brandon, Bills chief operating officer.

However, there weren't many other bouquets thrown Buffalo's way as Toronto prepared to host NFL regular-season games for the first time.

The Bills have an agreement with one of the wealthiest businessmen in Canada to run the game. He is Ted Rogers, owner of the Toronto Blue Jays and Rogers Communications Inc. Rogers has a net worth of $4.9 billion, according to Forbes Magazine. That makes him the third richest Canadian and puts him No.‚165 in the latest Forbes list of the world's billionaires. Rogers is joined in the agreement with the Bills by Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NHL's Maple Leafs and the NBA's Toronto Raptors.

Asked what he would say to fans who fear the series is the first step toward an eventual move of the team to Toronto, Wilson gave a long answer:

"I can answer that by saying the town of Buffalo, and it's no secret, is diminishing in size. Ted said he'd like to see more people moving here [to Toronto]. Could you send a few of them to Buffalo? Because Buffalo, honestly, is going the other way. Buffalo is dwindling in population, in jobs. People don't have jobs, and they move out of Buffalo, they move out of Western New York. So I would say to keep the team there, a number of years ago we decided we had to regionalize. We had to go out into Western New York because the team could not be maintained in Buffalo, and I did not want to have the team leave Buffalo because they still have hundreds of thousands of very passionate fans. I thought it would be a death knell to the city of Buffalo."

"But if we're going to stay," Wilson continued, "we had to increase our visibility. So we moved to the east and we set our training camp up, instead of south of Buffalo, we went east to St. John Fisher College, and that's our new training center. We developed a lot of fans in Rochester. I'd say maybe 20 percent of the fans who come to the games in Buffalo are from Rochester. That didn't happen before we moved our training camp to Rochester and expanded our brand and everything else connected with the Bills to the east. Now as Russ Brandon said — he's the head of the marketing, now the chief executive officer — he said, "We've overturned all the rocks in Western New York.' We've got to do something. So we looked this way to the north and we came up with some great partners who suggested this format of these five years of games to create a little excitement [for] folks. Not the same old thing. So we're going to play these games up here."

Then Wilson ended his answer with his statement about not speculating about the long-term future.

Wilson did say he thinks Toronto is a viable NFL city.

"I can answer that in the affirmative," Wilson said. "Just driving in from the airport and seeing all the buildings, all the construction that's going on here in Toronto. I guess I've been told it's the fifth-largest town in North America. It reminds me of my trip to Dallas a few months ago. There's building in Dallas, Texas, everywhere. Cranes, brand-new structures, and I see the same thing here in Toronto. I'm going to answer that in the affirmative."

The Bills' lease with Erie County and New York State runs through 2012. Wilson is on record stating many times he has no intention of moving the franchise. Wilson also is on record as stating many times that the team will be sold upon his death.

Bills officials point out the team would not be going to all this trouble to play a game in Toronto if they didn't want to take every step possible to make a franchise work in Western New York.

"We're doing everything in our power to keep this franchise financially viable in our marketplace," Brandon said. "Rochester has been a key for us. We're hoping that Toronto and Southern Ontario will be a key for us moving forward. We're trying to stay competitive, and we have the fifth-largest city in North America right up the street from us."

Said Wilson: "There's no negativism in Buffalo for us coming up and playing these eight games, none whatsoever, because they know it's to save the franchise for their city."

Details on how to purchase tickets are not yet available. However, fans can register to purchase tickets on a Web site: www.billsintoronto.com.

Numerous reports in Toronto indicate most of the tickets in Toronto could cost $250 a game. The Rogers Centre seats about 53,000 for football.

"This is going to be a great partnership," Rogers said. "We're going to charge high rates. We're going to have all the seats sold — standing room only out to Queen Street, and the best is yet to come."

Bills season-ticket holders will be given some opportunity to get tickets to the games. However, all fans will have to sign up to buy all eight games of the package. They will not have to put all of the money up-front for the games. Tickets for a game at Ralph Wilson Stadium are about $46 a game.

The Rogers-Tanenbaum group is paying the Bills a flat fee to bring the game to Toronto. They would not say how much. A Bills game at Ralph Wilson Stadium brings in about $3 million in ticket revenue alone, not counting luxury boxes, parking, concessions and other revenue. If the Rogers group were to sell 50,000 tickets at $250 each, that would produce $12.5 million, not counting ancillary revenue.

So it's easy to see how lucrative the deal could be for both the Bills and the Toronto organizers.

"We have to make Buffalo whole — maybe whole-plus," said Blue Jays President Paul Godfrey of the financial deal with the Bills.

Godfrey also has long sought to bring an NFL franchise to Toronto.

Bills season-ticket holders will have to pay for eight games this season, instead of the usual 10.

When it was noted there will be a limited number of tickets available for less than $100, Rogers held up two fingers and said, "Two." The crowd laughed.

Both Rogers and Tanenbaum steadfastly avoided discussing their long-term interest in bringing an NFL franchise to Toronto.

Asked about that subject, Godfrey said, "I'll let you draw your own conclusions."