MLSE Interested in the Argos: Say it isn't so please!

That’s mostly but not 100% true. American broadcasters near the border have been known to care. Stations in Buffalo for example have ads run that specifically target Canadians because those stations carry to a LOT of viewers in Ontario.

But collecitvely you’re right, ABC and crew don’t care about the Canadian ratings. The NFL itself might care because it’d raise the value of the CTV package if there was a Canadian team, but it doesn’t seem like something they’d care a lot about if they had a good US market to go into instead.

On the positive and boy I am stretching on this one, like they do by blackmailing the Leafs season ticket holders into buying Craptors seats, the same could be true with the Argos.

Like say…Los Angeles/Anaheim, San Antonio and Portland all come to mind.

Not sure how credible this blog post is but here you go:

NFL Realignment – Long Overdue–and one more idea?

[i]There is a lot of talk that Jacksonville’s franchise isn’t making it, and might want to move to LA. In addition, the NFL is interested in Toronto as a franchise, and possibly moving Buffalo there. That is probably a mistake; better would be to absorb the Canadian Football league by merger, and take the teams in altogether. Assuming both, realignment would be viable.
Here is one plausible realignment scheme that might recommend itself in that scenario:
...
The new league, by absorbing six CFL teams and adding two expansion teams, could expand to four divisions of five teams each in each conference, or forty teams overall. Probably in this scenario, another wild card or two would need to be added.

It might even be a good idea to borrow some of the rules of Canadian football, such as enlarging the endzone to 25 yards deep or allowing deadball kicks, to encourage scoring a bit. This is just one idea for realignment, but it does create better regional affiliations and replaced geography for tradition in creation rivalries (e.g. Dallas vs. Houston instead of Dallas vs. Phila.). [/i]

[url=http://pedrofeliz3b.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/nfl-realignment-%E2%80%93-long-overdue-and-one-more-idea/]http://pedrofeliz3b.wordpress.com/2008/ ... more-idea/[/url]

Let's face it, mergers do happen of course in pro sports. Hey, anything can happen!

This is utter nonsense just like the Toronto Sun article that some guy pulled out of his a$$ to fill print space.

Oh I'm sure it is Godfather. MLSE buying the Argos though is not utter nonsense.

Seems like its more personal speculation than based on any fact. The new Jags owner has personal ties to London, being an owner of the fullham soccer club, and has his Jags team playing a game in london each of the next 4 years. I’ve read just as much on him preferring to move the team to london as there is to LA. LA is a wish list for the NFL but there are a few main issues with a NFL team moving to LA. The biggest is facility - there’s no adequate NFL ready facility. The Rose bowl where UCLA plays and the coliseum where USC plays are good for college but would not be adquate for NFL purposes for more than a year or two. All recent attempts to build a NFL quality stadium have been stalled to the point of essentially being killed. Without a stadium guarantee no team will move to LA. Fact of the matter is he’s stuck in Jacksonville for the next 4-5 years at least.

As for the NFL merging with the CFL, never going to happen.

As for MLSE looking at the Argos, two things come to mind. One is that the NFL respects the CFL and will not come into Toronto full time as long as the CFL is there without the CFLs blessing. So the move could be a way to get in with the CFL to get this blessing or they just buy the Argos, bury the franchise and voila, obstacle overcome. The other thing would be to find a way to just get the Argos out of Rogers for good. The chances that they want to get involved with the Argos to benefit the franchise are pretty remote, feels more like a wolf in sheeps clothing rather than any salvation.

That seems unlikely, but it would sure make for a wild news day if it happened!

Earl ! LOL ! So a guy named Pedro says in his “blog” that the NFL is interested in moving two franchises and he suggests absorbing 8 teams that play in another country a different brand of football and you think that could happen ? Huh.

Also the miker who thinks Toronto is richer than Chicago, Dallas, LA must be related to an ameba.

Ah Hf, it's all for fun. What's the saying, watch what you put in print. That is in print, on the web so I thought I'd share the link at any rate even if it's just for pure amusement.

But the thing is Toronto is a curious situation for both the CFL and NFL, and for both Rogers and MLSE and perhaps for any other potential NFL suitors for a team in Toronto, and of course for the Buffalo Bills. And come to think of it, let's throw in the MLS as well, an NFL team in Toronto may have some effect on TFC as well. And MLB, the Jays, would they be affected in any way by an NFL team in Toronto?

I'm trying to figure out what the main question would be, at least for the CFL and Argos, but it could be should the Argos cut all ties with Rogers once and for all and let the chips fall where they may? The Argos and CFL are getting pot shotted by Rogers and yet at the same time Rogers is a bit afraid of MLSE doing anything that might make their empire stronger. So it seems to me :?

Earl, there isn't an organization on the planet short of the mob that works as hard to stay out of political crosshairs than the NFL. Anyone who thinks the NFL is going to take a franchise away from an American city to move it to Canada in these times is on glue.

I think though the boys at MLSE are thinking long term with respect to the Argos and the NFL. And who knows what happens in the long term with the US economy. And that makes sense. I agree, the NFL doesn’t want to get into politics and the Bills in Toronto series is just that with certain CFL fans saying “stay out”. So MLSE through acquiring the Argos allows the NFL to look at Toronto in a more non-political manner if you will ie. the CFL allowed the sale even with MLSE saying the long term goal is the NFL. And they get out of the RC which Roger Goodell doesn’t like at all where he mentioned Toronto has “stadium issues”, think this was at one of the recent SB speeches.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

So, lets see… minimum stadium size for the NFL is 50,000 (the smallest current is O.co is 53,200 before standing room). So, we have a total of 4 stadiums that meet that criteria. The Big O needs a massive refit and structural issues, so that likely knocks it down to three. Edmonton I have doubts to Commonwealth working out during the winter months, given how far north it is, (although it does work for Seattle and Green Bay) so they are a maybe. Toronto is likely going to convert the dome to Grass due to pressure from MLB, which they will need to share dates with, and is blantantly in Bill’s territory.

So the way I see it, we have one truly viable NFL stadium in BC Place, one maybe in Commonwealth and two nos if this were to happen. Meanwhile the federal and provincial governments, are going to sit on thier hands and tank on the investments they’ve made into IGF, Tim Horton’s Field, Landsdowne Park and the future investments in Saskachewan? Yeah…unlikely.

All for a little fun reading. Hey, I didn't write it! :wink: 8)

Your like a girl who passes Herpes and says she didn’t invent it :lol:

.

Yeah, I'm not getting much concrete from the article, but let's indulge:

An interest of MLSE in buying the Argos and building a new stadium would signal one of two things: A) the NFL is definitively NOT coming to Toronto for the foreseeable future, so they throw their clout behind the CFL team in order to turn a roughly break-even operation into a moneymaker, or B) They are EXTREMELY interested in the NFL and it's arrival in Toronto is imminent.

A) Conditional on everyone giving up on the NFL (which is a long longshot given Rogers, Paul Godfrey, and Phil Lind et al), this one's not hard to believe. With the new TV deal, the Argos are probably a good investment for MLSE. Combine a new facility (paid for mostly by taxpayers, probably) with the promotion power of MLSE and synergies with their other sports properties, and you probably have a moneymaker. TSN's commitment to the CFL, and the fact that it and MLSE share an owner in Bell, would probably grease the wheels. This is a best case scenario for CFL fans, but again, it's all undermined if Rogers and friends still have an interest in the NFL and a plausible shot at making it happen.

B) This would be something that hasn't been done before, but could probably only happen with MLSE at the helm. Bear with me. The NFL doesn't want to destroy the CFL, but they don't want to compete with it either. They want the CFL to exist, but they want all eyes in Canada on the TV screen watching highest level of American football. You don't making fans, particularly in the rest of Canada, by destroying their league and ruining their favorite CFL teams. The answer? Cooperate. Have CFL and NFL teams in Toronto, owned and operated by the same owner: MLSE. "But dmont," you say, "how could they coexist because all the fans would go to the NFL games and forget the CFL." A difficult problem, yes, but if anyone could accomplish it, it's MLSE. Here's a few ways 1) Call both teams "the Argonauts", 2) adjust the CFL schedule to limit the overlap in league play, 3) Design the stadium with an upper section that can be completely closed off (like BC place?) and made more intimate for CFL viewing, 4) Design ticket packages that get fans to go to both games, 5) Make popular what should already be: REAL FOOTBALL FANS LOVE ALL FOOTBALL, and want to be immersed in it year-round. Again, this only works with MLSE in control and with a beautiful new stadium designed for both the NFL and CFL Argonauts, which is why I say the NFL arrival would be imminent because there's no way MLSE would build one beautiful new stadium for the CFL Argos and then build another monster stadium a few years down the road for their NFL Argos. This is the more risky scenario for CFL fans, but could have the highest reward.

Both A) and B) are incredibly unlikely to happen, so yeah, I think the article is fluff.

There’s no standard size for an NFL stadium, if they needed to expand the RC then they renovate by taking out the restaurant and putting seats up there and with the smaller NFL field they put in end zone seats down to the end of the end zone like in a lot of NFL cities. It’s all about bringing in the dollars and the NFL average ticket price is $60, Torontonians are willing to pay over $100 a ticket for the NFL. So it doesn’t really matter if they have crowds of 50,000 in Toronto, it would bring in more revenue that an 80,000 crowd in a place like Buffalo.
Toronto fans pay the big bucks ($100 to $200) for 40 plus Leafs, Raptors games, there is a lot of potential for a team that plays only 8 home games.
Toronto is the second largest city in North American and easily the richest right now, it’s prime picking for the NFL. One of the biggest corporate communities and all kinds of money for advertising/sponsorship. People have been leaving Buffalo in droves over the past 20 years, the fans are not willing to pay the $60 a ticket to watch a losing team year after year. They don’t have the corporate sector, head offices etc that Toronto has, similar situation in Jacksonville.

They may not re-locate the Bills or the Jags but it could be an expansion team. The CFL could survive easily without the
Argos, Toronto is just not that important to the CFL.

That’s like having two wives. Its not going to end well.

Expansion is the same story. Senators and Congressman in California and Florida will come gunning for the NFL. You don’t want Jeb Bush or John McCain coming after you. The NFL coming to a weak sports market like Toronto is a pipe dream.

Hey, I’ve had three wives.

. … Oh, you mean at the same time ?