November 30, 2006
Toronto on NFL's List for Regular Season Game Next Year
Argos fans be very very scared. It seems that Toronto is on a shortlist of five cities that will get a regular-season NFL game next year. The game's success would be a good indicator of whether these cities would be suitable for future NFL expansion.
The NFL has some big fans here in Toronto, most notably media magnate Ted Rogers and Larry Tannenbaum (minority share holder of the Leafs) and Jays CEO Paul Godfrey. But there are hurdles of course. The NFL has made it clear that LA is its next big priority. The second-largest city in the US doesn't have a team. So Toronto would have to get in line. Then there's the fact that our largest stadium is 10,000 shy of the league minimum. So a new stadium would have to be in the cards to make NFL dreams come true.
Photo by Mute* from the Torontoist Flickr Group.
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They're not coming next year because of Grey Cup.
Shucks.
What Sean said.
I remember reading in the Globe this morning (okay, on the Globe's website) that next year they'll be going to Vancouver because they don't want to compete with the Grey Cup, which will be held in Toronto (how courteous). We are told to expect them here for a single game in 2008.
Right now, I'm driving down to Buffalo twice a season for my NFL fix. So what do I have to do to get a team set up here? (Apart from dishing out the cash to build a new stadium...)
Like the guy on the TV ads says, the fuel that runs the NFL is US network TV contracts, the NFL will occasionally do out of market exhibitions as a fan/sucker development tool but there will never be a team based here, get used to it.
Do we really want the NFL here?
Is Torontoist gearing up for the American invasion already? (the new ads for American organzations on the site are weirding me out!) :)
does Toronto want yet another team that American players snub?
where's the billion dollars for the stadium (skydome's too small) and franchise fee going to come from? Cable bills, phone bills, internet bills... and probably tax bills, somehow.
man. you peopel make me sick. become americans and get it over with!!