Buffalo Bills moving to Toronto?

[snopes]

Comment: Not sure how much truth there is to this, but it's interesting
reading.....

At a meeting Tom Golisano dropped a bombshell about the nefarious Ralph
Wilson. Golisano claims that Wilson's intentions all along have been to
move the Bills to Toronto. Stay with me on this......there are
businessmen in Toronto that are ready to plunk down mega-millions for the
Bills and move them there. Wilson already let the NFL know of this
(Apparently they can't stop him either). Golisano & the people from Rich
Products offered Wilson a similar financial package but Wilson
demurred....when they offered him more, he demurred again...& said he
wouldn't sell the team to them no matter how much they offered; it's not
about money. Wilson wants it to be his legacy that he be the first person
to bring international play to the NFL. Still with me..? There's
more.... Not to be dismayed, TG went to the NFL & has an agreement that
when the Bills move, they cannot take their name with them, ala Baltimore
Colts/Ravens. After the move to TO, Buffalo will be granted an expansion
franchise with the promise that they build a new stadium & sell it out for
5 consecutive years. (the NFL wants a franchise in Buffalo because it's
one of the original teams & has history in the league) TG agreed to do
this & will build a DOMED stadium on the waterfront in Buffalo with a
capacity of 60,000. In addition, Buffalo will be granted a Super Bowl in
the future. The caveat to this is that Buffalo will be without a football
team for 3-4 years. The wheels are already in motion & no one can stop it.
TG says that RW is playing the game right now..ie: crying the blues about
money, saying enjoy the team while it's here, not signing/keeping star
players, etc. Next year or possibly the year after the BIlls will be gone.
Willis McGahee may have let the cat out of the bag with his recent TO talk
in Penthouse. Star players don't want to come to B-lo because they know
RW is a tight ass. TG also said that if he ran the team he will not be
such a cheapskate & would turn things around in a hurry like he did with
the Sabres.

[snopes]

After the move to TO, Buffalo will be granted an expansion
franchise with the promise that they build a new stadium & sell it out for
5 consecutive years. (the NFL wants a franchise in Buffalo because it's
one of the original teams & has history in the league) TG agreed to do
this & will build a DOMED stadium on the waterfront in Buffalo with a
capacity of 60,000. In addition, Buffalo will be granted a Super Bowl in
the future.

We're talking about a league that couldn't keep either of two franchises in the second-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. (i.e., Los Angeles), and after twelve years still hasn't figured out how to get even a single team there again. I wouldn't put too much faith in anything they promised.

- snopes

There is no way the NFL will let that happen. After the fiasco when Cleveland lost the Browns for three seasons, the NFL basically got pushed around by the city who refused to give up there team without a fight and many NFL cities backed the fans in Cleveland, espescially the Buffalo Bills, who had a Cleveland Browns appreciate day at one of there regular season games the first year Clevealnd was without football.

The only reason, that the name, colors and history statyed in Cleveland was because of the tremendous uproar of the fans in Cleveland.

If something like this were to happen, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be pushing hard against it and giving the city of Buffalo the same support that they gave us when we were in danger of losing the team.

If the city of Buffalo offers to build Wilson a new stadium, (Something Cleveland was never given the chance to do when Art Modell left), there is no way it will happen. If tehy refuse, then the city is clearly not supporting the team and Wilson will be justified in moving, I just don't see that happening.

If Toronto wants a team, let them put there name in the expansion pool just like every other city that wants an NFL team. Don't steal somebody elses team.

It's easy to talk about C-towns success (even for Bengals fan), but what about Baltimore, the Cardinals, Texans/TN, and the numerous other teams that show this gambit does work... more expansion teams than not have come from a city "losing" a team, a new one getting it and then the old city getting an "expansion" franchise... A lot of cities won't risk an unknown like a truely new team, but if they can "steal" the golden goose, they can't seem to resist and the NFL has a history of letting them succeed.

Warlok

[Amigone201]

This is total BS.

The way things look for the Bills right now, it's nearly a miracle they haven't ALREADY been pulled. Their fan support is legendary, though, and year after year, we somehow manage to sqeak by, despite the Buffalo area's declining population. Ralph Wilson's bargaining and business savvy have a lot to do with this.

The idea that the NFL "wants" a team here is ludicrous, and so is the idea that we're going to build a new stadium. The Ralph is just fine, and it seats 73,000. I have no idea why anyone would want to build a new, smaller stadium to "support the team."

Of course any Snopester can tell this is false from the whole tone of it: "I know a big secret that important people are gonna pull something big but aren't telling anyone about it!" Oh yeah? Then how come you know so much?

[DaGuyWitBluGlasses]

The only way that would make financial (television contract) sense for Toronto to get an NFL team anytime soon is by relocation.

Its just the way the NFL's finances work, Toronto would require a team that already has an established US fan base.

[Johnny Slick]

Also, um, the Buffalo Bills are hardly one of the original NFL teams. They're one of the original *AFL* teams, but then again so are the New York Titans, and I don't see anybody wanting to bring them back. One thing that is true, though, is that the NFL basically has zero power to compell a team to stay in a city the way that MLB does. That's actually just about the only place left where the whole baseball antitrust exemption comes in. If Ralph Wilson wants to sell the Bills to Toronto-area financiers, he can pretty much do so with impunity.

I'm also not sure about the NFL expansion thing because, well, the NFL is pretty darn big already. I'm not sure that they particularly want nor need another couple teams in there right now. Which divisions would they play in? I actually would be kinda okay with things if the other team was stuck in LA and the league moved my Seahawks back to the AFC, but the league decided it prefers smaller divisions to bigger ones and it's a little unfair for 2 divisions out of 8 to have 5 teams and everyone else to have 4.

The biggest thing I doubt is Buffalo getting granted a Super Bowl. Two reasons: one, domed stadia are on the way out and there's no way in heck the league would ever allow the biggest football game of the year to be played in a blizzard. Two, even if they did build a big ugly dome in the city, there's a lot more to the Super Bowl than just the game. You've got Media Day, the hot dog eating competition, all that other goofy stuff... Buffalo in early February just doesn't seem like the right clime for that sort of thing.

[Amigone201]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

Two, even if they did build a big ugly dome in the city, there's a lot more to the Super Bowl than just the game. You've got Media Day, the hot dog eating competition, all that other goofy stuff... Buffalo in early February just doesn't seem like the right clime for that sort of thing.

I can assure you, from looking out the window right now, it's not!

Also, if anyone were promising to build something in Buffalo, we wouldn't believe them. Someone says they're going to build something every few months, and none of them ever get built. Right now we have at least 3 high profile projects running...right into the ground.

[PatYoung]

Megawaffles

[PatYoung]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

Also, um, the Buffalo Bills are hardly one of the original NFL teams. They're one of the original *AFL* teams, but then again so are the New York Titans, and I don't see anybody wanting to bring them back.

The Titans are still around. They are called the "New York Jets".

[snopes]

The Titans are still around. They are called the "New York Jets".

http://www.nytitanslacrosse.com/

[PatYoung]

So they didn't change names and move to Jersey, they just changed sports and opted to play indoors.

Hey, Detroit needs a football team . . .

[snopes]

One thing you've got to love about the internet; there is information available on just about anything, and sometimes that information goes inside areas normal journalists can't touch.

Such is not the case, however, with a recent internet piece of "inside information" concerning the Bills and Sabres owner Tom Golisano and Ralph Wilson's intention to (or so it says) move the Bills to Toronto.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_articl...?storyid=45169

[DAnnino]

Another thing is the CFL. Don't they and the NFL have some sort of reciprocal agreement about teams in each other's markets? I remember a few years ago, the CFL had at least two US-based teams (Las Vegas and San Antonio), which are not NFL markets. I can't imagine the CFL allowing the NFL, the 800-pound gorilla of sports leagues, to have a foothold in their largest market. Obviously, the rumor-mongers missed that.

[Illuminatus]

Originally Posted by snopes

We're talking about a league that couldn't keep either of two franchises in the second-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. (i.e., Los Angeles), and after twelve years still hasn't figured out how to get even a single team there again. I wouldn't put too much faith in anything they promised.

- snopes

There's a rumor/UL about that one too. Supposedly, the league doesn't really want a team in LA, because it allows every team in the league to play the "Well, the LA market is still open..." card when they are trying to extort a new stadium out of the taxpayers.

The OP's rumor rings false for several reasons.

1) As noted, there are several more lucrative American markets available.

2) The NFL in Canada would suffer the same currency-conversion penalty that hounds the NHL. Taking ticket prices in Canadian Dollars and paying players in USD takes a % of revenue that other teams don't worry about.

3) As noted, Toronto has a CFL team, and it would likely oppose an NFL expansion there.

4) Ralph Wilson is not a tight-ass. He has been spending near the salary cap almost every year. In fact, he allowed the Bills to bring in several high-priced FA's over the last few years (Spikes, Milloy, Bledsoe, Fletcher-Baker, Adams, etc.)

5) If Willis McGahee really knew something, the word would be out in a bigger way. If the news had filtered all the way down to the players, then it would have gotten to the media too.

[Illuminatus]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

The biggest thing I doubt is Buffalo getting granted a Super Bowl. Two reasons: one, domed stadia are on the way out and there's no way in heck the league would ever allow the biggest football game of the year to be played in a blizzard. Two, even if they did build a big ugly dome in the city, there's a lot more to the Super Bowl than just the game. You've got Media Day, the hot dog eating competition, all that other goofy stuff... Buffalo in early February just doesn't seem like the right clime for that sort of thing.

Detroit hosted Super Bowl 40. New York was promised one if they build a domed stadium. The NFL doesn't care about cold-weather climates, just cold-weather games. A fat lot of good it did them, btw, playing SB41 in "warm" Miami, forgetting that it is also "wet" Miami too. Again, the promise of hosting a Super Bowl is the big sell to taxpayers trying to fund these stadiums.

[Amigone201]

Originally Posted by Illuminatus

1) As noted, there are several more lucrative American markets available.

Where do you think one ought to be that isn't yet? Columbus, OH?

[Chris J]

Article from over six years ago about the NFL's chances of coming to Toronto

And another one from last year

So pile on the fact that Toronto's stadium is currently too small.

[Illuminatus]

Originally Posted by Amigone201

Where do you think one ought to be that isn't yet? Columbus, OH?

Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and maybe San Antonio or Oklahoma City are some off the top of my head.

The other possibility, which has been suggested, is to build the stadium east of Buffalo to split the drive time between Buffalo and Rochester, to bring in fans from there as well.