NFL games in Toronto translate to me as give me a freebie ticket or forget and that is something I've not felt about the CFL there or anywhere in Canada.
A 30 year lease for the Bills in Buffalo with the renovated stadium deal means a very long time wait in Toronto. 
Just a general question...who gives a crap about Melnyk anymore?
As far as the CFL is concerned, he's a complete non-factor. Yes, he made himself as something of an enemy a couple of years ago, but that doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. So for all intents and purposes, he's been defeated.
Even if he were able to schedule a game against the Grey Cup...So what? He's within his rights to do so. If he hates the CFL to death...who cares? He has no obligation to the league.
Sports are competition at that level too.
So the Toronto Star post a ridiculous claim with nothing to back it up??? a source? one in the CFL? lol
It was a bit of a “tongue in cheek story” the bottom line was that it was 2,000 short of a sellout and the Bills made $10M
As I said above the revenue is in the “private boxes” and club seats.
I’m a huge CFL fan but I’m just tired of the Argo saga - 19,000 fans a game and 20% are freebies. You would think after coming off of a 9-9 season and knocking off Hamilton in the East Semi and going in and losing to the Als in the last second that they would at least get some interest this year. But there attendance actually fell.
That’s why I say with the interest that Torontonians have with the big leagues, the Raptors/Jays/Leafs it’s time for the NFL. Let’s enjoy the CFL without Toronto, it could prosper, we don’t need them. To think that the CFL can’t survive without Toronto is again admitting that they are the “centre of the universe”
I say as Ottawa comes into the league - good bye Argos and hello NFL.
Disagree, if Braley wants to work it in Toronto, let him, especially now that Cohon has publically said a more intimate stadium, while a ways down the road, is something to look at.
I don't blame attendance at the RC, it's not a good football stadium and if it was it would have been packed for the NFL every game and every game ticket actually sold rather than the tons of freebies Rogers had to give away to get people there. One game novelties, NFL in Toronto with Buffalo on the verge of a 30 year lease, well can you say non-excitement for the NFL in Toronto? I sure can.
Both the NFL and CFL need new stadiums in Toronto for it to work long-term and it sure looks like a cold day in heck when the NFL will have a team there if Buffalo gets the go ahead on the reno.
Buffao is looking at the feasability for a reno, if it’s not approved then Buffalo could move but that doesn’t mean that the NFL is dead there are other teams and also expansion. Toronto is just too good for the NFL too ignore, a rich city with over 5 million people and a huge potential for the Private boxes, box seats, advertising revenues, TV revenues. As i posted above, the Bengals get HUGE revenue form the private boxes over $12 million and the box seats bring in $10 million, having 60,000 seats is a non issue if you have the boxes and the advertising revenue. The NFL on Canadian TV get great ratings and an NFL team in Toronto would only increase that. 15% of the Bills attendance are Canadians, that’s a lot of people driving a long way to see the Bills, too bad they won’t drive to watch the Argos. It’s just a matter of time before they won’t have to cross the border to watch the NFL.
As for a new stadium, I don’t think it’s a good sign when cities are looking for smaller stadiums to play in. There is nothing wrong with the Rogers Centre, it has everything that a stadium would want to attract people, it’s central close to restaurants/bars, has a rail station, subway, buses, streetcars and close to a highway. A new stadium just won’t do it for the Argos.
[url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20111030/SPORTS03/110300343/Buffalo-Bills-games-Toronto-cash-cows]http://www.democratandchronicle.com/art ... -cash-cows[/url] [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/10/26/bills.toronto.ap/index.html]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/f ... index.html[/url] http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=379009LOL oh boy. Mike, how do you have the audacity to refute claims in the papers when they don't conform to your ideas, but yet you suggest 20% of the argos tickets are freebies. Do you have a source? Or just making stuff up? I say it's the latter. In one thread you tried to claim that rogers wasn't losing money on the bills series and that the blue jays don't lose money. You were proven wrong and yet continue with your ridiculous claims.
Your posts never make any sense and when you're proven wrong you continue with your nonsense.
Absolutely geroy on both account.
It’s a known fact how Rogers has lost a boatload on the Jays and the Bills series.
For the first 5 years of the Jays, the average was near $30M per year and the Bills it is at least $10M per game.
As for a new stadium, I don't think it's a good sign when cities are looking for smaller stadiums to play in. There is nothing wrong with the Rogers Centre, it has everything that a stadium would want to attract people, it's central close to restaurants/bars, has a rail station, subway, buses, streetcars and close to a highway. A new stadium just won't do it for the Argos.
Actually sir it's the opposite, a great sign and a new intimate stadium in Toronto is exactly what will work IMHO. If I want a 60,000 stadium full every game, I can go to Buffalo for a game, every Canadian since most live within 200 km of the border can go to an NFL game to get their 60,000 plus football fix if they need it. The true beauty of the CFL, and I don't think you'll be able to get this, is that the CFL can work in Montreal with 25,000 thereabouts in a 25,000 seater or in BC with 25,000 thereabouts in a 55,000 seater and everything in between. In the NFL if you don't fill your mandated 64000 seater every game, you're a failure. In other words all sorts of models work in the CFL rather than a more or less one model down south.
The Rogers Centre is bad for football any league. That's why there are freebies galore for the "huge" "mighty" "major league" NFL there. Get it? And for you if you can't no problem, I understand your mind set. Just glad I don't have it I'll admit.
mike, have to admit, you lose me more and more the more I read of your posts but keep it coming, you're an easy one to read I have to admit. No offense buddy, you are likeable I must admit for what it's worth, which is probably zilch, fair enough.
Earl - the trouble is people don't want to hear the truth. I'm only the messenger!! It drives me crazy that Toronto just ignores the Argos and people aren't interested and when you talk about an NFL team, people come out of the woodwork to say it will never happen and want to blame everyone else for the Argos woes. Don't blame Rogers, don't blame a stadium that is in a central location with fantastic transportation links. If Torontonians won't attend Argo games in a stadium that is in a great area with great transportation links they aren't going to go to a stadium in the burbs somewhere - the end is not far away.
Let's put them out of their misery when Ottawa enters the league.
Someone mentioned that only 29,000 tickets were actually sold for the Bills game at Rogers Centre.
I know that the tickets were $180 a piece!! so if it was true that 29,000 x $180, that would be the equivalent of 90,000 fans at an NFL game where the average price is $60.
If the Argos could move to a smaller stadium and then charge $180 a ticket they could make some money!! But a move is not going to happen soon and how do you convince Argo fans to pay more than $40 for a ticket. Or how do you convince more than 20,000 Torontonians to come out to a CFL game. Seems that they are willing to pay a ridiculous amount for NFL tickets.
You still cannot be bothered to defend your ridiculous claims, can you?
You keep spewing your "facts" (and I use that term loosely) and yet every time you're challenged to defend your claims, you just beat around the bush.
No one should take what you say seriously.
NFL tickets aren't 180$ dollars on average, lol...
[url=http://teammarketing.com.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/News/nfl%20fci%202009.pdf]http://teammarketing.com.ismmedia.com/I ... 202009.pdf[/url]Exactly geroy. It'll be a day in heck unless you prove to me without a doubt that they sold 29,000 tickets at $180 a piece for a regular season NFL game. Personally I'd only pay that for a regular season CFL game. :cowboy:
Just a minor correction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bills_Toronto_Series
Rogers has had to cut ticket prices, given refunds in the past. Even if they break even for this Bills series I don’t think Rogers cares much. If they lose money in the short run they are hoping they can showcase themselves to Goodell and NFL management in hopes of landing a NFL franchise of their own which would be their payoff. Rogers I think believes as you do Mikem that they can make a big profit from ticket sales, private box sales, etc…
As I keep repeating, if the major reno goes ahead in Buffalo with a long term lease, Rogers or anyone else will not be getting an NFL franchise nor will any stadium be built unless an Olympics is awarded to Toronto and that will be quite a while down the road.
Right now I would say any NFL team is on the lowest of the lowest priority for Rogers business, they have the Blue Jays for branding which works quite well and the Blue Jays have a stadium that is much more a baseball stadium than a football stadium. It's just the media types that are trying to get people to read their articles about the NFL working in Toronto asap sort of thing, rarely if ever do they even mention the reno that I'm sure will be happening at The Ralph.
I would agree with you Earl. Aside from the money one of the reasons I think the Bills did the Toronto series was to increase their fan base and in fact have said that their season ticket sales to Southern Ontario fans have increased over the last couple of years. There's no way they give that up if they stay in Buffalo and allow another team full time into the area. That's not to say Rogers isn't hoping to showcase itself as a NFL city. Rogers IMO would be better served not renewing the bills deal and instead work to have an annual game like the NFL has done in the London with and showcase 2 different teams each year.
Do you think this would work better? One of the most common reasons people give for the low interest in the BIT series is that “The Bills are not our team”. I would imagine that there are at least as many Bills fans in the area as fans of any other teams, due to geographic proximity. So no matter what two teams play, either team 'will not be our team."
I think it would be better depending on which 2 teams are in the game. So for instance 2 years ago in london you had saints-chargers. Would u rather see that game (well, not the chargers this year), or even the Bears-Buccaneers game they had this year? Or would you rather have had the Bills-Redskins game that was played there this year? The game this year was probably helped by the Bills having a surprising winning record at the time (4-2). They've gone 5 straight losses since and if that game was to be played now it would probably have cost them a few thousand in attendance. Would you rather spend $100 on a seat to see the bills with mostly unrecognizable players versus a bad redskins team or would it be easier to part with that money if it was Drew Brees and the Saints vs the redskins or Tom Brady and the Patriots vs the skins? Some teams that have that easily recognizable star name are easier to sell. Other teams don't sell so well. Would you pay that amount for a brows-jaguars game?
I agree Wolverine. Also not renewing the BIT series but doing an NFL game yearly or whatever if Rogers is still interested would show that Toronto isn't after the Bills from "little ol' Buffalo' sort of thing, in Canadian fashion it doesn't look nice poaching from a small city their team, goes agains't Canadian etiquette.
All that being said if the Bills can convince Rogers to keep ponying up the huge money they have been, well Rogers will basically pay for the reno in Buffalo. Maybe Rogers are real nice guys afterall, well at least nice in helping a poorer smaller American city that they just feel pity on I suppose.