NFL Incursion Into the Toronto Market

I realize that I'm starting a Canadian sports business blog with a huge NFL logo, but this is a major issue for all of Canadians that enjoy the 3 down game of football. Here is an excerpt from an article in the Globe and Mail entitled "Bills' Toronto venture pleases Goodell". It was published on July 29, 2008 and was written by reporter David Naylor.

Goodell spoke publicly after meeting with Wilson and New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who has been an outspoken advocate on the subject of the Bills remaining in Western New York.

"The nature of the conversation was to find out how the Bills are doing, and fortunately that's good news," Goodell said. "The effort here to regionalize the team further into Southern Ontario and into Toronto has been a very big success for the team, and I think that's something we're all proud of , the fact that we can now make the team stronger here in Western New York. That's good for the team and it's good for the fans."

Last fall, the Bills agreed to sell five regular-season and three exhibition games over five seasons for a total of $78-million (all currency U.S.) to Rogers Communications.

The first of those games to be staged in Toronto will take place on Aug. 14, an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that remained 6,000 to 8,000 short of a sellout as of last week.

The Bills have sold more than 54,000 season tickets for this season, the third largest total in club history. And while that may be good news in the short term, there is no indication that Wilson has diverted from his intention of having his estate sell the team to the highest bidder on his death.

That scenario scares Bills fans who worry the team would be worth more to a buyer in Toronto than Buffalo.

While Wilson's succession plan may have come up in yesterday's conversations among Wilson, Schumer and Goodell, the commissioner was close-mouthed on the subject.

"We're talking about the future of the Bills and what we can continue to do to make sure that the Bills continue to be successful here in Western New York," Goodell said.

"And we did discuss that. We've talked about the initial steps here as far as regionalizing to Southern Ontario and the Toronto series. And that has been a very positive step for the Bills in Western New York."

Goodell said he was confident the Bills games in Toronto will be well received, despite underwhelming ticket sales so far. He said he would not attend the Aug. 14 game because of a schedule conflict.

Goodell was asked about the Bills potentially being bought by an investment company recently started by former Bills quarterback and senator, Jack Kemp, and former New York governor Mario Coumo. The company is targeting the acquisition of sports teams.

However, Goodell noted that the NFL's policy against publicly traded companies owning teams would make that impossible.