BuffaloBill Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 I bet Rogers shareholders would be pretty happy to tear up the rest of the deal. There was never anything in it for them. This is and will be a huge money pit to them. The only thing it did was grease the tracks for Ted Rogers to buy an NFL team and bring it to Toronto. Now he's gone and they're left paying $10m per game including pre-season games to Ralph to see a low budget version of an NFL team. The deal is done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 there were 3 choices for the Toronto game San Francisco Miami New England The deal that they made with Toronto and the CFL was that these games are to be played after teh Grey Cup in Canada so it does not interfer with the CFL, and that is played at the end of November. With the NFL making the schedule, and not the Bills, they had to chose which one to take to Toronto out ofwhatever home games were left after the Grey Cup. That left those 3 teams. I'm sure that Ted Rogers and the Toronto group had a choice in which one too, and the most logical choice would be the Miami game. They needed a game that would draw a crowd. the Miami home game for the last couple seasons has struggled to sell out (although after the Bills announced it would be the Miami game, fans started screaming and making it sound as if this game has people lining up at the doors trying to break the gates down to get into a packed stadium). Trying to sell the 49ers game would be tough cause the 49ers have been a bad team for the last while, and the fan base isn't all that strong up here for them. New England would be a tough sell because chances were (before Brady got Hurt) they were predicted to be a dominant team again, and the final game of the season would probably have them resting starters, and possibly have the Bills out of the playoff race that it becomes a glorified Exhibition Game. Miami was a big rivalry that they could still try and sell to a crowd (although the rivalry has been all but dead since Kelly and marino hung it up) and fans might be interested in seeing Ricky Williams again since he was an Argo for a little while. When deciding on the game, they had to look at it from a financial aspect first, and give Toronto their monies worth since they did fork over a big chunk of change for the rights to a game a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 What Ralph did in Toronto was a money grab, although they sold it as something absolutely necessary to preserving the future of the team. This was a pathetic effort at soothing fans' concerns about losing a home game. Meanwhile, RW said it would not result in extra monies being devoted to players. If they're not using the new revenue on players or operating the team, how does it keep the team there? Of course it was a money grab, almost everything any ofthese owners do is a money grab. They need to grab money to stay economically viable in Buffalo and show any potential future owner, that the Bills can survive in Buffalo, with a little help from the surrounding areas. Would there still be the same outcry if they played a game in Rochester? No, Fans would love that, they are only complaining cause its a large Canadian City, and not an area they feel comfortable sharing the team with cause they don't onsider Toronto to be part of their area. The way for the team to stay in buffalo is to reach out and regionalise themselves, and Tornot is their best chance at trying to attract any of the big corporate money. As for the last 2 sentences in that paragraph, in the first line you said that Ralph said he wouldn't use it on players, then in the second line you assume that that also means he won't use it to operate the team. I don't think he ever said that, theres more to operating an NFL team then just paying players or coaches. Its not like he is just going to take that $10 mil a game and pocket it or put it in his personal bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 I bet Rogers shareholders would be pretty happy to tear up the rest of the deal. There was never anything in it for them. This is and will be a huge money pit to them. The only thing it did was grease the tracks for Ted Rogers to buy an NFL team and bring it to Toronto. Now he's gone and they're left paying $10m per game including pre-season games to Ralph to see a low budget version of an NFL team. thats why they will have to send a good team to Toronto so they get somewhat of their monies worth in the deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Wouldn't picking Baltimore up in the middle of the night and moving them be a little dumber (and way more scumbaggy)? At least from the viewpoint of the fans? Also, had the Bills not sh*t the bed after our sweet start and actually had something to play for, perhaps the atmosphere at the game would have been different. Plus the super-high ticket prices in the midst of the awful economy didn't help put the Bills faithful in the seats either. That said it was depressing as hell watching that game - the amount of Fin fans, the lack of noise, the sterile atmosphere, the fact that it wasn't freaking cold and windy (though, I can only imagine how JP would have looked in actual *weather conditions*) and, oh yeah, the fact that we absolutely sucked made it a surreal experience. But we're locked in for the next few years, so where do we go from here? it also doesn't help that alot of the fans in Buffalo decided to boycott the game as a protest against putting the games in Toronto. You can't cry and complain and say you won't buy tickets to the game, then complain that the stadium lacked bills fans. Someone had to buy the tickets, and if Bills fans didn't want them, and put location of a game more important then trying to make it a home atmosphere, someone had to buy them, and it left it open for the away teams fans to buy tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 It was never about people from Buffalo making the trip north; the point was to further regionalize the franchise. We were told how many Bills fans there were in Ontario, and how grateful they'd be to have a game on their side of the border. Oops ... guess not, or at least not in my section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Not this tired old BS, again. Flutie never won a playoff game in the NFL, and he lost the game the previous year, with a fumble in the redzone. The only place Skin Flutie would have helped, against the Titans, was if he played on the kickoff coverage team, and managed to make a tackle. I became a Bills fan around 1996 so that's all I really know is from then to the present. But still, I maintain to this day as do a lot of Bills fans and non Bills fans alike I've met and talked to that if Flutie had played that game it never would have been that close. Flutie sure as hell would not have fumbled out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Flutie thrived in cold weather games (unlike certain modern day Bills QBs). RJ didn't play a bad game and it certainly wasn't his fault. Still, it's Ralph's fault. Once again shooting himself in the foot. Could have been the year to get the Bills back to the Super Bowl. Dumbest thing the Bills have ever done IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloRebound Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 The deal is done It is, but deals get torn up/re-negotiated all the time when they no longer make sense for both sides. If that game actually meant something to the Bills, the outrage already being shown would be multiplied. I still am amazed that Rogers shareholders went along with this... they are most certainly going to incur a loss and there is no upside for them as the NFL doesn't allow corporate ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robkmil Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 The Bills selling out to play the home Miami game was the dumbest thing in the history of the franchise (and Collinsworth may be right in the history of the NFL). And, in my opinion, a comment like yours is probably the dumbest thing that could be said in response. Hears what we do, how about keeping the Bills in WNY and bringing revenue for the local economy. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Toronto is a big city with a lot of corporate offices. For the Bills to make more money it was a smart idea to go grab some cash. it sucks that we lost a home game in the deal but this move might help to keep them in town. just like moving training camp to Rochester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 It was never about people from Buffalo making the trip north; the point was to further regionalize the franchise. We were told how many Bills fans there were in Ontario, and how grateful they'd be to have a game on their side of the border. Oops ... guess not, or at least not in my section. Pre-season - section 506 was 75% or more Steelers fans Miami game - section 506 was 75% or more Miami fans Yep, lots of Bills fans in Ontario went to the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Toronto is a big city with a lot of corporate offices. For the Bills to make more money it was a smart idea to go grab some cash. it sucks that we lost a home game in the deal but this move might help to keep them in town. just like moving training camp to Rochester. Except that giving up home field advantage for a division game is just a wee bit different than moving some practices in August ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marauderswr80 Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Maybe Ralph needs a new Taurus. Ralph drives a phucken Taurus? You gotta be shitten me.........I DRIVE A PHUCKEN TAURUS AND I MAKE 15 BUCKS AN HOUR WITH 3 KIDS AND A WIFE.....THAT CHEAP BASTARD OWNS A NFL FOOTBALL TEAM AND HE CANT DRIVE ANYTHING BETTER THEN THAT? My Taurus is nice by the way, great for snowy weather! Now that explains why when I go to games and have my Handicap sticker on the parking attentands look at me real CLOSELY............serious truth too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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