The Argos frustrate the pro-NFL crowd because they know the NFL can never be truly successful in Toronto while half of the football fans identify with another league. In any "honest" poll or survey you look at, 30% to 50% of Toronto football fans support the Argos. The CFL has the hearts and minds of the majority of Ontario football fans...and until that is overcome, the NFL will never gain a foothold in Canada.
They believe the Argos are the kingpins of the operation...if they can be taken down, the rest of the league will just fade into obscurity and the red carpet can be laid out for an NFL team. Toronto city council will feel no guilt about helping finance a new stadium, for instance, matching what other NFL cities are offering, as there will be no Canadian competition that would be harmed.
I think most of the Canadian sports media love the NFL, mainly because for sports nuts, the NFL is king. It provides an endless supply of stats, commentary and information that all sports addicts crave. The sheer volume of professionally produced media and information provided make the NFL easy to follow and easy for sports editors to fill their webpages...and while the CFL games are exciting, stories must often be written from scratch and there's just not much media "buzz" in comparison. :roll:
Here is an article outlining the Blue Jay financial losses early in Rogers' tenure...
Financial woes visit Canadian team; Blue Jays say they're losing money and fans.
Rogers Communications, which bought 80 percent of the Blue Jays in 2000, claims to have lost $15 million Canadian in the first quarter of 2002.
Rogers' chief financial officer, indicated "other alternatives" will have to be considered if the team cannot make money. According to Commissioner Bud Selig's numbers, the Jays operated at a loss of $43 million last season. Toronto went 80-82 and drew nearly 1.9 million fans, down from more than 4 million in '93. The reported losses would have been $53 million without revenue sharing.
[url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020428&slug=basenotes28]http://community.seattletimes.nwsource. ... asenotes28[/url]
Through cost cutting, it was reported that the Blue Jays reduced their losses by $20 or $30M, but their payroll has recently edged back up to $100M and attendance has continued to decline. Forbes magazine reported last year the Blue Jays lost money and pegged their franchise value as the lowest in MLB by over $100M.