Interesting News... It would be fantastic!!!
http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=220366&hubname=Interesting but will never happen. The league is set up perfectly for the amount of teams and schedule. Expansion would be the only way but I will tell you right now until there is a team in LA there will never be one in Toronto.
Makes no sense to me at all. Why would Cohon be a party to something that would kill the CFL? Why would other CFL governors be party to this and why would they want to co-operate and put the team in Toronto (which they all hate)?
Is the unnamed source, someone who writes for Metro News?
An Argo-Cat fan
Brilliant move on the part of the Argos and CFL IMHO. Deflects Godfrey and puts the whole thing in the CFL control, whether it's going to happen or not and the or not is more likely but puts Godfrey on the sidelines so now the NFL only counts people in Toronto might want to think about the Argos a bit more since helping their owners would be helping a possible NFL team, that's the spin anyways.
Brilliant as I say!
This is a sad day. I can't believe the owners of the Argos did this. It is indeed a sad day. AND THEY ARE HOSTING A GREY CUP !!
Do they not know what the fall out might be to the CFL, do they not care.
I am not an Argo fan by any means, but this is such a slap to the face to them, to the league and all the fans.
Iam sofrustrated with this.
THERE IS NO ROOM IN CANADA FOR A NFL TEAM. NOT NOW, NOT EVER.
cheergirl, this is good. Do you know who Paul Godfrey is? Do you know how he goes arounds saying "I'm an NFL guy" and basically doesn't want the CFL around in Toronto, for a few reasons.
Look, as long as Godfrey is around the NFL to Toronto talk will be around so why not spin the rhetoric and show that the CFL and owners are in some control of this, CFL lovers, rather than someone who doesn't want the CFL around? Get my drift here? Chances are it's not going to happen anyways but now we have our guys doing some of the talking.
with the argos/cfl owning a nfl team they could do what the leafs do with raptors you want leafs season tkts you have to buy raptors tkts also so the the toronto nflers would have to buy argo season tkts also along with the nfk season tkts
Of course something like that would be the scenario, the NFL doesn't want to just come here and damage the CFL.
haha, this is the typical Toronto "I wanna be a big kid too!!" attitude, constantly comparing themselves to American cities.
The Skydome is far too small and out of date to host an NFL team. The public is not going to pay for yet another new stadium for Toronto. They can't afford to build one on their own either, selling naming rights just won't do it alone.
Also, I hate to say this, but Toronto just doesn't have the fan base to support the NFL. I'm sure they could support them for a season or two. But the interest just isn't there. Toronto is extremely multicultural, their aren't that many people in the city that are interested in football and have the cash to buy season's tickets.
It's not gonna happen, somebody needs to call these jokers a whambulance.
Well, if Toronto can't pack the Rogers Centre for Argo games now that the Argo owners are "involved" with getting an NFL franchise for the city, the NFL ain't going to Toronto, period IMHO.
If the NFL comes to Toronto, under whatever scenario, the Argos' attendance will drop immediately and the team will wither up and die. Hamilton will die too. Some of the West will then fold, a couple of teams might have a sandlot semi-pro league for a year or two. That will be the end of the CFL as we know it.
If they try to make the CFL into a farm system for the NFL, they’ll want to dispense with our quaint Canadian rules. I for one would have no interest whatsoever in seeing the Hamilton Junior Bills playing four-down ball versus the Vancouver Seagulls for the tarnished remains of the Grey Cup.
It will be the end of Canadian football too... the universities won't bother keeping 3-down ball either when there is no professional league for their players to aspire to.
I'll mourn the loss, so I rue the day. My only consolation in this is knowing that the article is very likely nothing more than the result of a post-election hangover on the part of a delirious reporter who was up all night at a campaign party.
While I hope that the NFL stays south of the border, there's no doubt in my mind that a NFL team would flourish in Toronto. No doubt, tickets would be very expensive but there are only 10 or so games to be paid for (unlike the Leafs and the Raptors their 40+ games). The team would draw from all over southern Ontario and probably beyond. The corporate community alone would ensure a profitable franchise. They'd have a license to print money.
I give this latest interest in the NFL a 1/1000 chance of happening but if it does, RIP CFL.
An Argo-Cat fan
"Kill the CFL"??
You must be from the centre of the universe - do you actually think that with Toronto having a NFL team that people in Saskatchewan, Edmonton or Winnipeg would all of a sudden stop supporting their teams because Toronto has an NFL franchise?? You guys in Toronto really think everything revolves around you.
An NFL team may kill the Argos in Toronto but the league would continue probably stronger - let the Argos move to Missisauga or one of those other suburbs of Toronto, or better still move the Argos to Ottawa. This league would be stronger with a team in Ottawa and not in Toronto.
While I hope that the NFL stays south of the border, there's no doubt in my mind that a NFL team would flourish in Toronto. No doubt, tickets would be very expensive but there are only 10 or so games to be paid for (unlike the Leafs and the Raptors their 40+ games). The team would draw from all over southern Ontario and probably beyond. The corporate community alone would ensure a profitable franchise. They'd have a license to print money.I give this latest interest in the NFL a 1/1000 chance of happening but if it does, RIP CFL.
An Argo-Cat fan
I don't think it would draw from all over Ontario. Perhaps some from K-W area. Definetly not from Hamilton. It would be 95% Toronto's responsibility to fill a 70-90,000 seat stadium (that they don't have yet and can't afford).
I agree the corporate community could help, but there is no way they alone could support the franchise. Especially with a lot of the money spread out over other teams, and a backlash from CFL fans they would not wan't to associate themselves with. If Toronto getting an NFL team kills the CFL or even hurts it significantly, no corporation in Canada will want anywhere near it or anything to do with it for a generation.
That's true about their only being 9 games a year that need support. Still though, what's the justification for building a huge stadium for 9 games a year of a product that most people in Ontario don't want?
I think Toronto needs to get its house in order financially before they start asking for more money for yet another stadium to house an American league that would effectively kill a Canadian sports cultural icon. I think people in Canada will revolt if it's allowed to go down, public money inevitably being spent on something we don't want to benefit Toronto again. We aren't talking about one more NHL team slipping away here, where it's just one cities concern. We are talking about public money being spent to help a wealthy minority of people in one city who enjoy subpar football danmage or kill one of the most important peices of Canadian sports culture. If talk gets serious, it could very well become a national issue. Toronto could look pretty bad in the process, not that that's a hard thing for them to do. 
First I will state that I am not an NFL fan. I enjoy watching my CFL teams etc but I can't be bothered with the NFL hype. Too much sizzle...not enough steak.
And I have always feared the NFL coming into our turf and wondered if such an event would cause the demise of the CFL. Or worse still....the push to adapt our game to theirs.
But with all that being said...it doesn't necessarily have to be all doom and gloom. There could be a MOU drawn up in that the two leagues and teams are distinct entities that happen to share a facility. And given that, with the right marketing, may be of benefit to the city, Southern Ontario and specifically the Argos.
But I sure as hell would want to see the fine print and with the first sniff or hint of changing our CFL rules, I'd be down there in a flash with my lit torch.
The CFL should purchase the Bills, and then lobby the NFL to increase the territorial rights so that Toronto falls within Buffalo's territory...then sell the team.
There will never be a Toronto NFL team for the same reasons why the NHL hates Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup. There's no money in it.
What Cowboys fan or Niners fan or basically anyone who doesn't live in New Yory state or Michegan care about a Toronto team? Would TV broadcasters get any added money from a Canadian audience they already have? Why relocate a team to a market dominated by the Leafs?
The NFL isn't second tier anywhere. They would probably draw fans and get corporate money and everything, but the NFL gets nothing from locating in Canada.
Besides, they have alreayd gone on record as saying that they want the CFL to succeed. A healthy CFL brings in more football fans, regardless of the brand of ball they like. How many people on this baord enjoy NFL football simply because it's football?
On a side note, where in TO would they build the ridiculously expensive stadium required to house an NFL team? and who would pay for it? Not me.
NFL-Argonauts???
Nope, I do not think TO is the centre of the universe. However, I think you're grossly under-estimating the power of the NFL brand if you think any team in southern Ontario could survive if the NFL established a team here. Not only would the Argos be swept away by the NFL, so would the Cats. You and I may want to continue to go to CFL games but many would switch allegiances in a heartbeat. The interest is already here. Go into any sporting goods shop, Canadian Tire or wherever--tons of NFL stuff and almost none or no CFL stuff. Look at the coverage of the two leagues in the papers, on tv and on radio--there's at least as much coverage given to the NFL as the CFL. Like it or not, that's a true reflection of the interest and the market.
My biggest fear is that there will eventually be a consortium of interested parties who will bring a NFL team to Toronto. Perhaps, MLSE, Rogers, a mega-pension plan or two like the teachers or OMERS, a few well-heeled individuals.... A group like that would have a lot of money at their disposal--maybe enough to buy a NFL team and build a facility.
I'm sure, people in Sask, Edmonton, the 'Peg, etc. would still support their teams. However, I'm much less sure that there'd be a viable league for them to play in.
An Argo-Cat fan
I think barneyfife1 has summed it up correctly here.