As laughable as playing games in Mexico to attract the Hispanic fanbase, or in England to attract fans in Europe? It's about growing the game, and the NFL is pretty much maxed out within the US.

In any case, it doesn't mean a team in Toronto will happen. It may never come to fruition - but it's certainly something that's being looked at.

Not sure about the Expos happening... Quebec in the NHL is dead... and the CFL in Halifax isn't going to happen.

Back on topic... the wildcard round was very entertaining this past weekend - can't wait for this weekends games of high-powered teams battling it out.

All of them seem completely long shot.
Wild card Quebec getting an NHL team only if an American team were to come up for grabs and if & only if no other American city like Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Seattle or Hartford, etc etc, wanted it first.

Montreal was averaging 9,000 people per game for years before Expos folded, MLB coming back seems like a huge risk even if they had a stadium.

Halifax got it's first high-exposure pro sports team to call the city home last year, but they have only been averaging less than 6,000 spectators per game in a league that averages ~10,000 (Saskatoon averaged it's first season twice as many as Halifax). Once the novelty of having a NLL team wears off in Halifax, hard to know how the team will do. I think this would give an idea of how the CFL would look in Halifax. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_H...erbirds_season

Vancouver getting a NBA team back seems most plausible, but again there's dozens of American cities that would be given first dibs before NBA tries Vancouver again.

Reason for Toronto never getting an NFL team can be summed up in one word, the Argos. It just looks bad when the city can barely hold onto a pro football team as it is, but for Toronto to build a stadium & be able to have money for a team and attract spectators seems unviable in NFL's eyes.

Had Toronto centric sports media built up the Argos to a highly respectable & well regarded team, even though they play in only the second biggest pro gridiron football league in the World, The Canadian sports media could be making huge profits promoting a Toronto NFL team as "Canada's Only Football Team".

How are they going to attract diverse fans if they're already unable to do so in cities that are far more enthusiastic about the game? What makes Toronto more special than Miami or Houston?

Canadians who watched the Grey cup in 2019, an average audience of 3.9 million viewers. +10% from previous year.

Canadians who watched the Superbowl in 2019, an average audience of 4.33 million viewers. - 18.7% from previous year.

That's still 400,039 thousand more pathetic Canadian's wanting to be American according to a few people on this site.


These numbers only represent Canadian networks so it could be assumed many more watched the Superbowl on American networks. More pathetic wannabe American's who hate Canada.

4.

1) NHL has bigger fish to fry and Quebec is not appealing for NHLPA.
2) MLB has bigger fish to fry, although it's my runner-up here.
3) CFL has more important things to worry about and i'm not convinced on the financing of the stadium/team.
4) Makes a lot of sense once Seattle gets its NHL/NBA teams.
5) London and Mexico City are ahead of Toronto, IMO.

The Super Bowl in 2015 had 8.26M on CTV when they had American commercials simulcast so...Super Bowl figures are usually north of 7M on Canadian TV if you include those that prefer to watch with American commercials. We're at the point where the Super Bowl audience in Canada is twice that of the Grey Cup.

All of the growth is in female registration. Male registration has declined the past five/six years.

Those numbers also don't count bars packed with people watching the Super Bowl, compared to bars not packed to watch the Grey Cup.

I think that Seattle, with it's completely renovated former arena, is ahead of Vancouver and once that happens, Vancouver won't get a team.

In that case, we don't need a new football stadium, it already exists. We need a new baseball stadium for the Jays (they need one anyway) and the Rogers Centre and it's 53,000 football seats becomes the NFL Toronto home.

Having a flashy new stadium to sell at step prices is normally part of the NFL's playbook in new markets... Can the 1980s-era Skydome pull that off? Assuming Toronto were to land a team and have it play there, it would be one of the oldest stadiums in the league right on day one.

I don't know if that's true. Vancouver got the Grizzlies at a time when the Sonics were still around, although admittedly that was part of the league's big push into an international market and not just a one-off relocation/expansion. Vancouver would definitely be behind Seattle for the next team, but after that I'd say Vancouver has a shot.

MLS certainly has a vibrant three-way rivalry between Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. I think something similar would be attractive to the NBA if they ever did decide to expand. There's enough people and corporate dollars to go around.

It would also be the smallest in the league. Once the Raiders move to Vegas, the next smallest would be Soldier Field at 61K. Hard to imagine that ever working, but the NFL faithful in this thread are committed to the dream.

I'm just going with the suggestion I replied to that they don't need more than 50k or so. Not only do I not think Toronto is even on the radar for a team, but I also think that if they did get one, they would build a new, bigger stadium. But if the idea is they don't need one as big, then they might as well renovate the dome, which already has all the amenities and location, and build a new baseball stadium. Since I also think it would be the same people involved because who else?

Uhhh, already happened and they payed huge expansion fee for it.

For the last time, it was a hypothetical situation to make a specific point. Whether it's going to be implemented is irrelevant.

I'm not sure that you do. Open systems of association clubs have had no problem growing and becoming among the biggest leagues in the world. The closed franchise system is one way of growing but not necessarily the best.

But that's kind of beside the point. The reason I brought it up in the first place is to show that the NHL doesn't put teams where the demand is, it puts teams where it wants demand to be. The former would result in more teams in Canada than it has.

Nobody is proposing putting teams in random small towns. Your reliance on flimsy straw men doesn't strengthen your point.

I think Vancouver makes a lot of sense regardless of whether or not Seattle also has a team. Having them both play off of each other is only a benefit, not just in the NBA but in any league (NHL, MLS).

Going to agree with esquire on this one - Rogers Centre won't be hosting an NFL team. If it's not up to par for an MLB team it definitely isn't for an NFL team.

The NHL places franchises where it thinks it can maximize growth potential. The NHL doesn't operate any differently than any other franchise sport in this regard, really; they're mostly just looking at market size numbers, income trends, and general demographics, as well as corporate support. Canadian markets typically fall further back in line when compared to American counerparts.

There's pros and cons to both systems but the association promotion/relegation system is not without its flaws, either. How competitive has France's Ligue 1 been since PSG was injected with Qatari money? A franchise system would tie this in with a salary cap, and although it would limit and hold back PSG it would create a more competitive league on the whole for the rest of France. It would also create a better league on the whole rather than having one big fish in one small pond.

An NHL with promotion/relegation, with potentially more Canadian clubs, would be a smaller, less-internationally reputable league than it is today because it would lack the financing that American growth has brought to it. Franchise model effectively led the NHL to the world-leader status it is today for ice hockey. So yes, pro/rel would lead to a more Canadian NHL, but it would also be a worse quality than it is today.

Vancouver is absolutely on the NBA's radar. However, the cost of a team requires an ownership group with deep pockets. Maybe Northland Properties would be interested, and they likely have the deep pockets - but if they did it they would need to build a brand new ~$500 million arena in metro Vancouver for the team. If AIG did it they already own Rogers Arena/Canucks, but not sure if they have the pockets.

Seattle and Vegas are desired NBA front runners tho - with expansion or team relocation. Vancouver is a solid third to pick up more Canadian market...San Diego just doesn't seem to make things work.

^ The best and I daresay only chance at making the NBA work in Vancouver is without having to bear the cost of a new arena on that extremely pricy land.

When a measly little White Spot sells for a quarter of a billion, the only way you can make the budget work on a new arena is if you build it out in Langley.

I know, and that is a huge catch with any NBA dreams in Vancouver without AIG doing it. Not sure how much land Northland already owns downtown - several individual lots - but not sure if they would have enough contiguous space.

I already replied that I didn't agree with your earlier assessment about the 50k stadium. I'm just saying if that was what the number was, the Rogers Centre would work. Not throw open the gates tomorrow ready, but after a significant renovation after the Jays had left to another park. Without the need for the rotating seating on the 100 level for the conversion between football to baseball, that entire level could be gutted and refit with permanent football seating. Revamping of the suites and lounges, along with updating the football media area, and converting the baseball media area to suites. It's not about it being up to par for baseball compared to football, it's overbuilt for what baseball is now.

But as I said, the NFL wouldn't even give Toronto a sniff if they talked about 50,000 seats.

Boy is this ever true. Now that the Chargers are gone, SD is the largest city and metro in the US (by far) without an NFL team, NHL team, or NBA team (save for Seattle).

Not the city's fault at all....Spanos held the city hostage for a new stadium....they called his bluff. But with the new stadium literally an HOUR up the I-5 - not a huge problem. With only Camp Pendleton as a separation between LA and SD....it's pratically one huge metropolis.