Ted Rogers has died!

I wonder how this will effect the nfl coming to Toronto?

His money ain't going with him.

Rogers is a corporation. I'm sure his board's direction is to stay the course.

Kind of funny (not in a ha ha way) that the man most behind the Bills in Toronto didnt live to see the first game. Even more so that it was the week of the game.

I can't believe how anyone could start talking about CFL - NFL stuff right now, unreal. Give the man and his family and loved ones some respect for a few hours, no wonder this world is in such a state of mess and disrespect!

I don't think anyone is showing any disrespect just because they're talking football. This is a football board after all.

And I certainly didnt mean any disrespect at all. On the contrary. I was making an observation.

Ted Rogers will be missed and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

I think now there are a few unanswered questions.

  1. What will happen with the Bills in Toronto? He was a major force behind it.

  2. What will happen to the Blue Jays?

  3. What will happen to the rest of his ventures?

With Teddy in charge, he had control over everything. Now, if it’s left to a board of directors, they want to make money and will let go of things that don’t make any money.

Very sad and interesting day in the world of sports.

But, they still have to find ways to brand the company and make it stick in people's minds - skidoo, snowmobile style. I don't see them unloading the Blue Jays or getting out of the Bills thing unless they really, really see what they are paying as not worth it for the branding that any company so dearly desires. Rogers Comm. is in the media communications business and sports does play a role, albeit not sure how much, in this whole affair.

Probably means that Rogers will now carry the NFL thing only as far as it makes economic sense to carry it. Whereas under Ted, ego and the ability to wield unchecked power were more likely to be a factor.

People that seem to know what they're talking about have said that the NFL experiment was a good long- term move for Rogers Inc., but that they overpaid because it was a legacy project Ted wanted at any cost.

This Bills thing in Toronto is just a small stepping stone. Phil Lind wants it bad and I think he'll push even harder now the Ted as passed on and MLSE who wants an NFL team is also in the mix. They know, so do I, that once Toronto gets their own team, the fans will be there at more appropriate prices of course. Remember, the Bills aren't Toronto's team, this is just laying the groundwork even if it's getting off on shaky grounds.

Toronto will have an NFL team soon IMHO because of people like Phil Lind. I'm not saying I want this, not at all, just saying what I think will happen.

(Qote) Earl
Toronto will have an NFL team soon IMHO because of people like Phil Lind. I'm not saying I want this, not at all, just saying what I think will happen.

Agreed! The CFL had better get their collective asses in gear by getting Ottawa and possibly Halifax or Moncton into the eastern fold before this eventuality.

A word about Ted Rogers: Condolences to his family and may he rest in peace. He has done a lot for professional sport in these parts that we shouldn't forget, although bringing the Bills to Toronto isn't one of them. (IMO)

Actually, as much as I DON’T want the NFL to come to Toronto, I felt kind of sad that he passed away before he could watch the Bills game at the Skydome (Rogers Centre…whatever).

I’m with Bob McCown on this one. I don’t see it happening.

How is it good for the NFL to have a franchise in Toronto? There a;ready exists an NFL TV deal for Canada. I can’t see a Toronto franchise up the numbers that much more, especially in the states where it counts most. Also, because of limited seating tickets won’t be that cheap and the age of the Rogers centre will be an issue. Have you seen all the new modern NFL stadia popping up everywhere? All this agreement has done is anchor the franchise in Buffalo for the next five seasons.

And just because some rich guys may want a team in Toronto doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. There are rich guys that want to keep the team in Bufflao, the Commish is from Western New York, and I think an L.A. franchise would be a much more valuable to the NFL as a whole.

Condolences to the Mr Rogers Family, Now if only his money went into Canadian Football, CIS , CFL and Argos, instead of the Browns and Bills.

Captain, these are rough times economically, we are headed into a recession I’ve heard. Ok, so take LA where the NFL would like to be. They have great football, great football experiences for the fan, in USC, UCLA and Univ. California, they really don’t need the NFL. So, if you get some really rich owners as in Rogers Corp. and MLSE together in Toronto willing, and I emphasize willing, to pony up $100 million more when Ralph passes on and the Bills are for sale, I see them ending up in Toronto with a slightly revamped Rogers Centre seating 58,000. Personally, while I wouldn’t say it’s a slam dunk, pretty close because Phil Lind and a few others want the NFL so bad, unlike LA I think, that they are going to spend Ted’s money, if they can convince the Rogers Board of Directors to do so with some MLSE money thrown in. That’s the way I see it, I might be wrong but I just don’t think I am. Look, the NFL looks at money and I think the Toronto group will outbid everyone, I really do. Also remember that with number crunching and the TV deal the NFL gets better than any other league, you can look at your costs and know better when you will start making money. The NFL is not a gate driven league in the US like the NHL where if people don’t show up, franchises are going to be losing money left, right and centre.

Look guys, to the big boys at Rogers and MLSE, CFL teams are a complete joke. Sad, but that’s the way they see it, CFL teams aren’t worth much more than a top junior hockey franchise like the London Knights and honestly, the Knights might be worth more than some CFL teams.

EaRL_ ? Why cant you see that the CFL is the platform in Canada, and the Args can and should stock their(T.O,s) team with high Profile NFL Free Agents !IMHO

Mass, the CFL to me is a great treasure for a lot of reasons despite what I think Rogers and MLSE big-shots might think of our league as I was mentioning in my previous post. No, the Argos should stock their team the best way with the cap in mind to give themselves the best chance to win the GC, like all other teams. The Argos are probably never going to win a popularity contest in Toronto since too many people there see it as not a major league. But they’ve got a good season ticket base, around 12,000-15,000 I think. Yes, hard to make big money in the CFL but the Grey Cup, lately, is making teams some money who host successful ones. I think there are a significant number of folks who like that the Argos aren’t owned by big companies like Rogers and MLSE, I do. Would I like Rogers/MLSE to lose interest in getting an NFL team? Darn right I would but I don’t see that happening but I hope I’m proved wrong.

Here is a good article today about the problems of Bills in Toronto.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/column ... 1-sun.html

This one argotom by Simmons? Wonder if he’ll get in some hot water for this one? Bad timing to have written this line me thinks.

If there was a sucker born in all of this, that sucker was named Rogers.

[url=http://www.torontosun.com/sports/columnists/steve_simmons/2008/12/02/7604811-sun.html]http://www.torontosun.com/sports/column ... 1-sun.html[/url]

There’s already exists an NFL TV deal for the United States too, CaptainK, so why on earth would the NFL want a team in LA? How is LA more valuable to the NFL - isn’t every LA-headquartered US multinational with an eye to NFL co-promotion already signed on.

Speaking of TV deals, Australian Rules football has a TV deal in Canada too, but something tells me that it isn’t as lucrative a TV deal as it might have if the games weren’t all played in Australia. Not all TV deals are created equal and local franchises tend to add a couple of zeroes to the value of TV deals.

I hope the naysayers are correct - IMO 5-7 NFL-related stories a day littering the newspapers I read is 5-7 too many, but I can’t see a league that is legendary in their ability to maximize revenue continuing to prop up franchises in tier three cities like Buffalo and Minnesota forever when one of the ten largest money trees in North America is just screaming to be picked clean.

Toronto being Toronto, the three levels of government will probably build a 100,000 seat stadium on the lake for an Olympic games and sell it to the owners of the Toronto NFL franchise for $1.

The thing with McCown’s arguments is that they’re frequently intelligent, usually logical but often wrong all the same.