Edmonton trying to host NFL game.

All the rowdy friends receive an invitation north
By JONATHAN HUNTINGTON

The Edmonton Eskimos are now stuck playing an NFL-controlled waiting game.

The Green and Gold have formally applied to host a NFL Monday Night regular-season game at Commonwealth Stadium.

"We completed a proposal as requested by NFL Canada," said Eskimo president Rick LeLacheur.

"I know they sent out four of them. I am not sure how many they got back.

"They were filed by the end of April.

"I just touched base with them and they have not finished figuring out what they are going to do."

It's believed there are three other competing cities for the game: Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

It's unclear when the game would come to Canada, but there is some thought around the Eskimo office that it could be as soon as the 2008-09 season.

If the Eskimos are given the right to host the game, they will not be able to choose the specific teams.

"The NFL will decide," said Eskimo director of marketing Dave Jamieson.

"But we have a lot of Denver Bronco and Seattle Seahawk fans (in the city)."

At this stage of the application process, it is also uncertain how much money a CFL team could earn from hosting a primetime NFL tilt.

However, the Esks believe the work that has been done to apply for the game is worth it.

"The NFL's brand is the world's best, so we thought we would like to be part of that and thought people would enjoy that," said Jamieson.

Why not the Shrine Circus comes to town?

I hope Edm wins it and only 15,000 fans turn out in minus 20 weather in late November. I think the '08 interloper game was projected to be played around Grey Cup weekend.

If the NFL doesn't get the presale, they might pull the game to "concentrate" on Moscow or Mombay. :slight_smile:

It's us or them. The CFL should be fighting tooth-'n-nail to keep the NFL out of Canada. Parliamentarians have acted before to keep American football leagues out Canada. The more the NFL gains a foothold in Canada, the more the CFL is rendered as second-rate and minor league in comparison.

Even the Eskies promo guy was gushing about how the NFL is the Greatest Football League in the History of Mankind and what an honour it would be to kick the Eskies out of their dressing room for the Arizona Cardinals, for instance.

Like when Toronto hosted the last American Bowl, the Green Bay Packers took over the Argos dressing room for a week. All the Argo stuff was dumped into garbage bags and the team had to practice in the parking lot!...while the Skydome rolled out their brand-new fieldturf for the NFL to practice on. The Argos weren't allowed to use the new turf that year.

The Lions hosted the Seahawks in an American Bowl in Vancouver, on the guise to "make money" to help the CFL. The game was a total flop. They needed 30,000 sales to break-even, and they claimed 35,000 were and they turned a "small" profit. It was well known they severely papered the crowd at the last minute to avoid embarassment on national U.S. TV. The NFL will never go back to Vancouver.

Well Eskimo fans are football savy bunch they love football. Would they stay away from a football game to protest. HMMMM I do not thinks so. Nothing to worry about how has a billion US to blow on a franchise in Canada?

…are the Esks. trying to be the T.O. of the west…next we’ll hear that Edm. is applying for an nfl franchise…lol lol…why would we be the least bit interested in bringing in an inferior game… :roll: :lol:

I hope they do get an NFL game.. I prefer the CFL , but going to an NFL game at commonwealth would be great, I would love to see at least one NFL game in person. It would depend on who was playing(if it was Green Bay, I would definitely try to arrange a trip). Going to an NFL game in Canada, there would be less hassle with crossing the border, devalued dollar etc... so there would be many aspects that would make it ineteresting.

I have no problem with Edmonton getting one of the NFL games.
First...they are coming somewhere, whether anyone likes it or not.
Secondly, the CFL and NFL should try to foster a good working relationship rather than being adversaries. That makes the game of football better for all parties concerned.
If properly done, it should be a win/win/win situation--good for both the CFL and NFL, plus the football fans aren't likely to complain at having another game.....

It's us or them. The CFL should be fighting tooth-'n-nail to keep the NFL out of Canada. Parliamentarians have acted before to keep American football leagues out Canada. The more the NFL gains a foothold in Canada, the more the CFL is rendered as second-rate and minor league in comparison.
Its not like Canadians are completely oblivious to the NFL. It gets a ton of media coverage on both sides of the border and almost every Canadian has access to the games on TV. So some Canadians have chosen to be NFL fans, some CFL fans, and some both. Watching an NFL game in person wouldn't change a lot of fan's minds nor would it make the leage suffer. Most likely it would be great exposure for the CFL. If the NFL came to Canada it could make the CFL a lot of money and a packed Rogers Centre, Commonwealth, Olympic Stadium, etc would give the rest of the continent a good look at how much we care about football up here. I'm not one to want to suck up to Americans or suggest we should be pushovers, but there are a lot of advantages to this proposal. It would NOT turn off CFL fans from the Canadian game, and it would likely get a few more Americans interested in the CFL.

Exactly my thoughts I_Believe_in_Blue!

Commonwealth will almost certainly sell out, but it will probably be an embarrassment anyway - if it's played later than October. That's when the grass surface turns to a rock hard skating rink. Not to mention the frigid temps. The teams will love it :slight_smile:

According to my sources as I have previously posted, a good friend in New York read an article in the Times recently stating how the Esks are reportedly the odds on favourite to host the game if it comes to Canada in 08.

…not quite, but it’s no secret that Alberta is home to the vast majority of Americans living in Canada…I wouldn’t be surprized if Edmonton beat out Toronto for that game, and would try to go to see if if I could…

According to my sources as I have previously posted, a good friend in New York read an article in the Times recently stating how the Esks are reportedly the odds on favourite to host the game if it comes to Canada in 08.
The NFL also said that it could play up to 4 games in the same country on a late November weekend. There could be NFL games in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal all on Grey Cup weekend, no problem there! The more games the better, eh!!

Commonwealth will sellout? Great, 60,000 to watch the Cardinals vs Jaquars, then only 30,000 a few days later for the Bombers vs the Esks. "Geez, there’s just no atmosphere with a half-empty stadium. I wish the NFL could play here every weekend, their games are such an EVENT!!! While the CFL, is, well, second rate. Of course it is a minor league, but it’s actually better than the NFL. Really!

Again why worry? No one will tie up a billion dollars for a franchise in Canada. This is like the circus coming town. :lol: :lol:

In every city where there was an exhibition game, Toronto and Vancouver, the stadiums were papered and still well short of sellouts.
I realize this will be a "regular season game" and a one opp. Still I do not see any real success although I also believe the best location for success is Commonwealth.

Exactly! Instead of some of you appearing to boycott any attempt at an NFL regular season game in Canada, why not go out and enjoy a different brand of football? It would be a whole new experience(albeit, probably a more boring one) and the profits would go to the CFL team hosting the game.

I kinda doubt that!
Why would 2 teams play in Canada in there is nothing in it for them?

I would think the profits would go to the NFL teams

From the article in my first post of this thread…

[i]"At this stage of the application process, it is also uncertain how much money a CFL team could earn from hosting a primetime NFL tilt.

However, the Esks believe the work that has been done to apply for the game is worth it."[/i]

OK
A "cut" of the profits is one thing but I would be very surprised if they got all of the profits

To be honest I dont see why they should get a cut, I hope they do but.....

Well, the NFL would be infriging upon the Eskimo’s geographical audience and territory if they did end up bringing an their game here. In the end, the NFL would probably benefit by attracting some more fans, and the Esks could make some more money(even if it is only a small cut - but I think I read somewhere that a Monday Night Football game brings in more profit than the GC game does).

Don’t get me wrong though. I am still a strong supporter and viewer of the CFL first, and NFL only casually.