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Leading Bid for Rams from Toronto


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Very bad news. St Louis Rams may be moving to Toronto, which would lock up the 7 million person SOuthern Ontario market and almost certainly end any chance for the Bills to stay in the area:

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...ies-to-toronto/

 

Interesting, and potentially disconcerting.

 

I guess my response to this is: (1) just because the ownership group is from Toronto, it doesn't necessarily mean the team will move there; and (2) NFL might not in any event approve of such a move given the Bills current Toronto deal.

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Since Toronto is part of the Bills territory, anyone moving there would have to pay the Bills millions of $$. I'd also like to see how the Canadian government, which is very protective of the CFL treats them. Also-they'd have to build a 70,000 + seat stadium-Rodgers Centre is too small for an NFL team there full time. Lots of roadblocks for someone who wants to move the Rams to Toronto. LA might be a much better option once they look at all the obstacles in Toronto.

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Interesting, and potentially disconcerting.

 

I guess my response to this is: (1) just because the ownership group is from Toronto, it doesn't necessarily mean the team will move there; and (2) NFL might not in any event approve of such a move given the Bills current Toronto deal.

I also think The Bills would demand $100 million from them to come squat in their backyard.

Think of it this way - Ralph has as much right to pick the team up and move it to NYC and play games in Citi Field.

A relocation must be approved by 3/4 of the owners. I don't see this happening.

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Let's hope not, that would be bad for the Bills. But I can't see the NFL not doing everything in their power to make the next franchise relocation go to LA.

How would the NFL "make" a new owner move his team to LA??

 

Plus, I don't see the owners approving a Rams move to Toronto---there is no obvious significant financial benefit. People in Toronto are ambivalent about the Bills, why would they fill a new 70,000 seat stadium for the "Toronto Rams"? Why would the league allow 2 Jacksonvilles?

 

Besides, in LA, there is no stadium. And the only plan for one is through a guy who says he'll only build it if he owns a major share of the team that occupies his stadium.

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I do not know what to make of this curve ball. You have to think that something will be done with Toronto eventually I think it is the 5th largest tv market in north america.

Let 'em watch the games on cable. FargMeister Jerry Jones keeps holding fast to Satellite broadcasting for Sunday ticket. The NFL must get some revenue from allowing the Canucks access to the NFL TV gameday feed. It's not like that market is ignored. In fact if anything is being ignored - it's the live games. They can't even sell out a 40,000 seat stadium there. The purpose of "moving a team to Toronto" is to generate more income from the fans. That means putting fannies in the seats, charging more for tickets, and having luxury boxes that pay millions in lease revenue. On top of that - the club earns money from parking, concessions and selling fan gear from their own team stores. I don't see a positive outlook for any of that when I gaze northward.

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I think the Bills series in TO has shown they don't care for a franchise, especially at the prices

they would charge. Plus the whole 3/4 ownership thing would hopefully get in the way.

 

A funny thing about this whole LA thing anyway, is LA does not want a team! They had TWO

franchises pick up an leave...TWO. That's gotta say something. Anyway, if the reason they

want to move teams their is to add to TV revenue, ya gotta wonder what impact that will have

on it. I suspect the NFL is coming to a day of reckoning, like the NHL did, were salaries are

much too high and TV won't be paying as much.

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Let 'em watch the games on cable. FargMeister Jerry Jones keeps holding fast to Satellite broadcasting for Sunday ticket. The NFL must get some revenue from allowing the Canucks access to the NFL TV gameday feed. It's not like that market is ignored. In fact if anything is being ignored - it's the live games. They can't even sell out a 40,000 seat stadium there. The purpose of "moving a team to Toronto" is to generate more income from the fans. That means putting fannies in the seats, charging more for tickets, and having luxury boxes that pay millions in lease revenue. On top of that - the club earns money from parking, concessions and selling fan gear from their own team stores. I don't see a positive outlook for any of that when I gaze northward.

I get what you are saying but , I do not think Toronto has embraced the Bills as their team . The ticket sales might increase if they get a team of their own. I hope/think the bills stay but until the next owner is in place and therer are big markets out their without teams we are going ot have to deal with this stuff.

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I think the Bills series in TO has shown they don't care for a franchise, especially at the prices

they would charge. Plus the whole 3/4 ownership thing would hopefully get in the way.

 

A funny thing about this whole LA thing anyway, is LA does not want a team! They had TWO

franchises pick up an leave...TWO. That's gotta say something. Anyway, if the reason they

want to move teams their is to add to TV revenue, ya gotta wonder what impact that will have

on it. I suspect the NFL is coming to a day of reckoning, like the NHL did, were salaries are

much too high and TV won't be paying as much.

ratings have never been higher and it is about the only prgram left were people watch commercials for fear of missing a play

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The NFL teams only have a 75 mile exclusive rights clause. The Bills could not demand anything unless they can prove that Toronto is their base city area. Because the Bills play in Toronto 1 regular season game, I do not think that a team would move there. LA have 2 franchisees move because they could not get a new stadium. Also the LA fans never wanted the Raiders but Al Davis won it in court and when he could not get a stadium he moved back. The original owner of the Rams died and his wife got the team. She was not from LA and got a sweetheart deal from St Louis who had lost the Cardinals. New Stadium, all concession and parking money, plus a 50 million dollar bonus to move the team

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haha. toronto absolutley sucks. i live closer to buffalo then toronto, i way prefer sabres over leafs. toronto is a terrible place for football. please keep it away. when i was at that stupid Jets game (free tickets), two Middle Eastern men were sitting in front of me and one asked the other: "When does the home run happen?" i was floored. boring, sober game. i will never root for a toronto team.

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The NFL teams only have a 75 mile exclusive rights clause. The Bills could not demand anything unless they can prove that Toronto is their base city area. Because the Bills play in Toronto 1 regular season game, I do not think that a team would move there. LA have 2 franchisees move because they could not get a new stadium. Also the LA fans never wanted the Raiders but Al Davis won it in court and when he could not get a stadium he moved back. The original owner of the Rams died and his wife got the team. She was not from LA and got a sweetheart deal from St Louis who had lost the Cardinals. New Stadium, all concession and parking money, plus a 50 million dollar bonus to move the team

75 miles - right - as the crow flies.

Rochester is 63 miles from Buffalo - and Toronto is 60 miles from Buffalo.

Bills games in Rachacha get blacked out. Hell, games get blacked out close to Syracuse.

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I think the Bills series in TO has shown they don't care for a franchise, especially at the prices

they would charge. Plus the whole 3/4 ownership thing would hopefully get in the way.

 

A funny thing about this whole LA thing anyway, is LA does not want a team! They had TWO

franchises pick up an leave...TWO. That's gotta say something. Anyway, if the reason they

want to move teams their is to add to TV revenue, ya gotta wonder what impact that will have

on it. I suspect the NFL is coming to a day of reckoning, like the NHL did, were salaries are

much too high and TV won't be paying as much.

 

I was on vacation in the Dominican over the summer and I was rocking some Sabres and Bills gear (not at the same time) and we ran into some people from the Toronto area and hung out for a few days. Talked everything, especially sports with the guys. Trust me when I say...TORONTO DOES NOT GIVE A FLYING **** about football. The prices for the Bills games would be around the same they would have to charge for regular games and those are astronomical. There is no fan base, and they pretty much laughed at me when I brought the whole thing up.

 

Sorry all, I am a paranoid Bills fan too, but this is not on the radar.

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haha. toronto absolutley sucks. i live closer to buffalo then toronto, i way prefer sabres over leafs. toronto is a terrible place for football. please keep it away. when i was at that stupid Jets game (free tickets), two Middle Eastern men were sitting in front of me and one asked the other: "When does the home run happen?" i was floored. boring, sober game. i will never root for a toronto team.

Thank you. For some reason that absolutely escapes me, Bills fans seem to think that the Bills playing in Toronto is a "good thing". As much as I despise Brandon, I must give him credit for pulling this brain-washing off. To the rest of the league, this "Toronto Series" (known to me as the Toronto Fiasco) makes the Bills look like a laughing-stock. "How Bad Are They?" jokes abound. The Bills are SOOOO bad, that they would give up their premium home field advantage to play a game in a city that doesn't like the team and doesn't understand the NFL.

If Buffalo can't keep a team on it's own merits, than we lose the team. But I would rather lose the Bills with dignity than continue to be the laughing stock of the NFL thanks to this Toronto idea.

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ratings have never been higher and it is about the only prgram left were people watch commercials for fear of missing a play

 

I don't doubt that. Thing is the NFL has enjoyed a TV money bonanza. It's my opinion the networks

are not going to keep letting the NFL raise the price of the TV packages as much as they do. If memory

serves each team gets 50 to 60 million from the TV deals, with the CBA tying the salary cap directly to

revenue. Now what happens if the TV guys balk at a huge raise? Less revenue = less player dollars.

With the new CBA around the corner, the NFL could be in for a huge headache similar to the NHL.

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