NFL coming to Toronto

thurmas · #1 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 4:33 PM**

Found this article on TSN today:http://tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=350461
I am starting to think though that the Argos can coexist with an NFL team. The Bills series really hasn't affected them at all. The seasons don't overlap that much, if the Argos can share a better football only stadium at Downsview and if people who buy NFL tickets must buy Argo tickets it could work.

VANRIDERFAN · #2 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 6:38 PM**

Nope, no and no way.

niwell · #3 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 7:15 PM**

Worst. Idea. Ever.

The Brothers Ford are delusional if they think this wouldn't cost the city hundreds of millions of taxpayers money. Gravy train indeed.

And there are way better plans for Downsview in the pipeline than a suburban stadium. They just want it there so there's another reason to never go downtown where pesky things like pedestrians, cyclists and streetcars get in the way of their SUVs (seriously, Doug Ford's doesn't, or didn't even fit in the City Hall parkade).

yaletown_fella · #4 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 7:32 PM**

It's going to be privately funded. What's with the whole inferiority complex? Toronto is the fourth biggest market in Canada/U.S.., Can't ignore that

SpongeG · #5 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 7:33 PM**

how did u guys let him become mayor? he sounds like a winner haha

Bdog · #6 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 7:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

It's going to be privately funded. What's with the whole inferiority complex? Toronto is the fourth biggest market in Canada/U.S.., Can't ignore that

Privately funded? You know of many privately funded NFL stadiums? I can think of 1: Gillette Stadium...

niwell · #7 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 7:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

It's going to be privately funded. What's with the whole inferiority complex? Toronto is the fourth biggest market in Canada/U.S.., Can't ignore that

With basically no background research they stated it would be privately funded. There is no way municipal money wouldn't be involved in attracting a major sports team and building a new venue, even if it's indirectly (grants, tax reductions etc). It would be unprecedented in today's age.

And Toronto as an NFL market isn't really all that hot. The Bill's never manage to sell out the skydome when they've played games here recently. Granted, this is partly to do with high ticket costs. That factor doesn't stop the Leafs though.

thurmas · #8 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 7:57 PM**

It probably won't happen because the NFL wants to move back to L.A. way before any move to Toronto. My only point is I think the argos could survive with an NFL team in Toronto. I really doubt the stadium could be built through $20,000 seat licences. Dallas did it because it's the mother friggin Dallas Cowboys they are what the Leafs are to T.O. religon! Toronto football fans are the most fair weather and quiet fans on the planet. Look at the Bills series you have a stadium that seats 10 -15000 seats less than the average NFL ballpark and they still can't fill it when they are the corporate capital of Canada and have more than 5.5 million people!

Nicko999 · #9 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 8:14 PM**

Not going to happen...

Highinthesky · #10 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 8:44 PM**

I think using the Bills games in Toronto is a poor indication of how the NFL would do in Toronto, even though they didn't do that poorly. All three of the regular season games had over 50,000 in attendance or better than 90%. Now this is for a Bills team which hasn't been competitive during any of the three seasons these games took place and these games were in Skydome which makes for a horrible football stadium. So all in all I can't think you can really say the Bills experiment in Toronto makes a case for the NFL not being hot in Toronto, if anything it shows that the NFL has promise.

Having said all this, L.A. gets a team before Toronto and the best bet for an NFL franchise in Toronto imo is when the Bill's owner dies and the team has to be sold.

Jamaican-Phoenix · #11 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 9:12 PM**

I thought the CFL and NFL has an agreement where they agreed not to expand into each other's territory/nation?

thurmas · #12 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 9:26 PM**

There is no non expansion territory agreement, also the success of the Bills series is false they only sold 38,000 the last game the rest of the 12,000 were free tickets given out to fill the stadium. They have had to also greatly reduce the ticket prices because fans were not willing to buy!

Berklon · #13 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 9:47 PM**

The Bills in Toronto series really isnt a great indicator. Really, who wants to pay those ridiculous prices to watch another city's horrible team? Toronto isn't even a Bills town - there's a buttload of fans of many different NFL teams. Out of the hundered or so people I know who are NFL fans, only 2 of them are fans of the Bills.

The NFL in Toronto will be great.

CorbeauNoir · #14 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 10:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

It's going to be privately funded. What's with the whole inferiority complex? Toronto is the fourth biggest market in Canada/U.S.., Can't ignore that

1) LA is the SECOND biggest market in Canada/US and don't have a team, get in line
2) Perhaps more than any other league the NFL is based upon tv contracts and advertising. Both of those are null and void in Canada as far as the States are concerned, how big it happens to be is irrelevant.

-Harlington- · #15 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 10:37 PM**

theres room for one football team in torontos centre
prove you can fill a stadium for an argos game before this happens

caltrane74 · #16 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 10:38 PM**

they probably view canada and toronto as one in the same so a market or territory of 34 million to sublicense their sport in. The nfl makes money and canada makes money.

Berklon · #17 Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 11:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Harlington-

theres room for one football team in torontos centre
prove you can fill a stadium for an argos game before this happens

By this logic the Leafs shouldn't exist since the Marlies have one of the worst attendance in the AHL.

CFL attendance has no bearing on how an NFL team will do.

You can bet an NFL team in Toronto will do MUCH better attendance than the Argos in their best years.

Urban_Genius · #18 Posted **Jan 23, 2011, 1:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

It's going to be privately funded. What's with the whole inferiority complex? Toronto is the fourth biggest market in Canada/U.S.., Can't ignore that

Uh actually yes they can. There's this town in California with 13 million people also being "ignored".

This will never happen. There's a better shot that the Leafs win the Stanley Cup than an NFL team in Canada. I love how Ford says "they'd HAVE to give us a team" and "would HAVE to bring a superbowl in the first couple years"
He really has no clue if he believes the NFL cares what he or anyone for that matter has to say. No matter how rich you are, you must play by the rules. Just ask Blackberry Jim.

Also as an aside, who is going to invest 2 billion dollars for a team which may or may not be justified financially? Remember that in the NFL, teams can't be owned by Corporations (Sorry Rogers, MLSE, etc) or by owners of other sport properties (That's two strikes). Toronto teams have almost never been owned by a lone individual.

People should read these two articles for the flipside
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/col.../16968581.html
http://www.thestar.com/sports/footba...article/926318

Urban_Genius · #19 Posted **Jan 23, 2011, 1:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berklon

The Bills in Toronto series really isnt a great indicator. Really, who wants to pay those ridiculous prices to watch another city's horrible team? Toronto isn't even a Bills town - there's a buttload of fans of many different NFL teams. Out of the hundered or so people I know who are NFL fans, only 2 of them are fans of the Bills.

The NFL in Toronto will be great.

See nobody was saying that before the Series began. If you recall, the claim was that Toronto would pay ANY price to get tickets, that this was the biggest sports event in Toronto's history and that there would be a line up from Skydome all the way to Mississauga. They even held a lottery, thinking that this would be a colossal success. What happened?

You want the NFL on a full time basis, expect those prices. Especially if you'd be playing in Skydome. Now obviously, the NFL isn't going to Toronto and certainly not to play in Skydome so it's a moot point.

thurmas · #20 Posted **Jan 23, 2011, 1:50 AM**

Also Toronto NFL fans knew that if they showed up to the Bills series it would give Toronto a much better shot at a team because the NFL would know that the fans in Toronto want NFL but they didn't, showing how fickle and fair weather Toronto football fans are. I will take Bombers, Riders, Steelers, Packers, Bears fans over Toronto fans any day because Toronto fans are not real football fans they just never show up Argos or NFL.