Toronto BMO Field Renovations | ?m | ?s | MLSE | Gensler

If the experience of the Toronto Rock in the ACC is any indication the answer is, unless MLSE owns the Argos, no. The Rock are treated horribly to the point where they must hang their championship/retired # banners for every game as MLSE does not allow them to keep them up during non Lacrosse events.

If that is the attitude that MLSE takes with the Rock (whom MLSE do not own), unless MLSE purchases the Argos I predict they will receive the same treatment.
 
MLSE said they would do this renovation/expansion only if $30 million came from the public purse ($10 mil from each level)....with the feds already saying "no" does this kill the project?
 
You never know, it could happen?

Ralph Wilson's death opens door ever so slightly for NFL in Toronto

Where does Toronto fit in this?
There is a plan here too, headed by musician Jon Bon Jovi. He leads a group that has been waiting for this moment — as Wilson dies, his clock begins ticking.
What is complicated for others is already simple for them. They have the money — fronted either by MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum or Rogers scion Edward Rogers. They have the connections. Bon Jovi’s golf buddies include Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, the two most influential owners.
They are working on the stadium plan, which would be handled by Tim Leiweke and MLSE.
Their biggest issue at the moment is unique. It’s the Toronto Argonauts.
Forces inside this country reaching up the highest levels have made it clear that there will be no NFL franchise for Toronto if it jeopardizes the CFL. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shares that feeling. He will not allow himself to be seen trying to kill a sister league.
This is why the Argos are moving to BMO Field once their Rogers Centre lease runs out. This is why MLSE will soon own them.
In order to win one football team, Toronto must save another. Now the rush is on to get that deal sorted before moving on to a much bigger one.
This is all a hugely complicated process that could, in the end, be decided by one rich wingnut who decides that what he really needs to complete his life is a really bad, and possibly cursed, football team.
But the Toronto bid has to be considered one of the favourites. It is holistically sound and, from the NFL’s perspective, maintains the team’s current marketing boundaries. It upsets no apple carts elsewhere.
In coming to Canada, the league would announce itself as a global, rather than provincial, concern.
Toronto could be the launch point for the new NFL.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/footb...ver_so_slightly_for_nfl_in_toronto_kelly.html
 
Automation Gallery said:
In coming to Canada, the league would announce itself as a global, rather than provincial, concern.
Toronto could be the launch point for the new NFL.
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What's Cathal Kelly smoking? I'd love to know how 90 minutes away from Buffalo qualifies as a global launch point.

If anything the games in Wembley have been a global launch point since they've been selling 80,000 full-priced seats for every game in a market with no NFL pedigree -- the opposite of the BiT series. And London is, you know, a whole ocean away from here.
 
What a load of crap from Catha Kelly.

The NFL games at the Skydome have been a joke, attendance-wise. There's no tailgate culture, and anyone who's been to a NFL game know the tail-gating is an integral part of the NFL experience.
If the new NFL is a dull, overpriced experience, it's going to fail.
 
JayBeeGooner said:
What a load of crap from Catha Kelly.

The NFL games at the Skydome have been a joke, attendance-wise. There's no tailgate culture, and anyone who's been to a NFL game know the tail-gating is an integral part of the NFL experience.
If the new NFL is a dull, overpriced experience, it's going to fail.
Click to expand...

Tail-gating is a part of the NFL because of the U.S. car culture, asphalt desert parking lots surrounding the U.S. venues, and the lack of good restaurants near those venues.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Tail-gating is a part of the NFL because of the U.S. car culture, asphalt desert parking lots surrounding the U.S. venues, and the lack of good restaurants near those venues.
Click to expand...

this...plus tailgating is illegal in Canada and drinking and driving is more of a social, and legal, stigma here.
 
TOareaFan said:
this...plus tailgating is illegal in Canada and drinking and driving is more of a social, and legal, stigma here.
Click to expand...

Lol and somehow D&D is less stigmatized in the US? Come on man that's a load of BS. The main reason tailgating isn't practiced here is because as you've said, it's illegal, but pre-gaming for a sporting event is just as commonplace here as it is in the States.
 
I can't for the life of me believe the bills would move, and even if they WOULD move, why LA wouldn't be the front runner
 
T-Bor said:
I can't for the life of me believe the bills would move, and even if they WOULD move, why LA wouldn't be the front runner
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their new lease carries a $400 million penalty if they move before year 7....I think they are going into year 2.
 
In 2020 - they can break the lease for $23million or something - you won't see any movement happen until then
 
A) The Bills in Toronto thing was a disaster. But, it was a weird idea anyway, lending another city's team once a year. Would a random Panthers/Blue Jackets game at the ACC do well? As much as people love hockey here, I doubt it. If you had an NFL team playing here with Toronto on the uniform, I have no doubt it would be a big success. Toronto loves to feel and appear world class, and there's no bigger league than the NFL (other than the EPL maybe).

B) What ultimately matters here is not whether or not we think the Bills would work here, but whether people like Larry Tannenbaum, Edward Rogers, Tim Leiweke and (apparently) Bon Jovi think it would work here. According to guys like Cathal Kelly, Bruce Arthur and Steven Brunt, they do think this, and will be pursuing a team.

As for LA, the Rams, Raiders and Jaguars have all been talked about as teams that may relocate (in addition to the Bills). So you may see a team or two in LA (and even possibly London) in addition to a Bills move here.
 
The "applecart" that will be knocked over with a move of the Bills to Toronto will be almost all of the Western New York fan base. They absolutely hate the idea of the Bills in Toronto. They would probably rather go to New York City or some other state to watch their teams than come to Toronto to watch their old team play.

Regarding the "disaster" of the NFL games in Toronto. This is in my opinion utterly inconclusive. The Bills are meaningless not only to most people in the GTA but probably most American football fans in the GTA. Why would they expect another city's team to be overwhelmingly supported? Some purists just love the game and support who they do, especially if the quality of the game is played elsewhere at a higher level. But if the game is at it's highest level it is all about home town support, not the team.
 
JMSRead said:
A) The Bills in Toronto thing was a disaster. But, it was a weird idea anyway, lending another city's team once a year. Would a random Panthers/Blue Jackets game at the ACC do well? As much as people love hockey here, I doubt it. If you had an NFL team playing here with Toronto on the uniform, I have no doubt it would be a big success. Toronto loves to feel and appear world class, and there's no bigger league than the NFL (other than the EPL maybe).
Click to expand...
How could it possibly be any weirder than games in England? London sold over 83,000 tickets for two random NFL games in 2013. Toronto, unlike London, is a mature NFL market, yet London is getting three random games this year, while Toronto is getting its last for the foreseeable future.

And the valid comparison to a Bills in Toronto game would be a random Panthers/Blue Jackets game in Hamilton, with the implication that it would help gauge interest for a potential permanent NHL team. Bet that would sell out.
 
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